Mexico Defeats Jamaica, 5-0

Mexico Coach Ricardo Lavolpe’s nine-month tenure had been nothing short of a disaster, but Sunday he and his team may have taken a giant step toward restoring credibility.

With only 10,000 fans in the stands at cavernous Azteca Stadium -- where crowds of 100,000 are common, especially for a game involving the national team -- Mexico put together a dominant performance in a 5-0 victory over Jamaica in a CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinal game at Mexico City.

The five goals were as many as Mexico had scored in its previous nine games combined under Lavolpe as the team had compiled a record of 2-2-5 before Sunday’s victory.

Mexico will meet Costa Rica in a semifinal match Thursday in Mexico City. The United States will play Brazil in the other semifinal Wednesday in Miami.

The winners will play Sunday at Mexico City to determine the regional champion of North and Central America and the Caribbean

Even Lavolpe, who ducked reporters after a 2-1 loss to El Salvador at the Home Depot Center on July 6, took time to answer questions after experiencing his best moment yet for Mexico.

And he didn’t use the session as an I-told-you-so diatribe directed toward reporters who have been extremely critical of his tactics and lack of positive results until now.

“Sometimes things go your way. Today everything went our way,” the Argentine-born Lavolpe said. “The situation was difficult, there was a lot of pressure.

“But my players responded and played a great game,” he said.

Mexico scored four goals during a 23-minute span of the first and second halves to bring back hope to a team that had struggled mightily on offense since Lavolpe took over. Mexico’s best output for Lavolpe before Sunday had been a 2-0 victory over Bolivia in March.

After putting pressure on Jamaica from the start, it took Mexico until the 38th minute to finally break through.

Omar Bravo, who had not played for Mexico in its first two Gold Cup matches, scored on a diving header after a deft, looping cross by Jesus Arrellano, who shook off two defenders to make the play.

Four minutes later, Rafael Garcia put Mexico ahead 2-0 after driving a free kick just outside the penalty area past Jamaican goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts.

If Jamaica -- without striker Onandi Lowe because of a red card against Guatemala in its previous game -- had any thoughts of making a game of it in the second half, Mexico substitute Daniel Osorno put an end to that with a goal into an open net from close range for a 3-0 lead in the 55th minute.

Osorno said that despite the criticism of their coach, the players have remained focused.

“We never paid any attention to that,” he said. “We are just working harder to show Ricardo we can do it.”

Six minutes after Osorno’s goal, Jared Borgetti, who helped set up the third goal, gave Mexico a 4-0 advantage after scoring on a header.

Mexico’s Juan Pablo Rodriguez closed out the scoring with a blast from about 28 yards away that left Ricketts flat-footed in the 83rd minute.

Times wire services contributed to this report.