Mexico Beat Jamaica And Is First In Qualifying For The World Cup

The Mexican national soccer team won 1-0 in Jamaica and reached the first position of CONCACAF qualifying for the World Cup Brazil 2014.

Aldo De Nigris scored the only goal of the match 48 minutes into the game after receiving a pass from Carlos Salcido, bringing the Mexicans from fifth to first in the standings, although they have played one more game than their main rivals.

It wasn't a great game and Mexico didn't have many goalscoring opportunities, but it was able to hit at the right time and defended the result thanks to good performances by De Nigris and goalkeeper Jesus Corona. The game was developed imprecisely and strongly with the same eleven players who had tied with Nigeria last Friday.

The visitor allowed Jamaica to have the ball, played two-touches and defended firmly in order to neutralize the speed of the locals.

The match started evenly in Kingston, but after five minutes the Mexicans started to be protagonists. The team led by Jose Manuel de la Torre began to win balls in the midfield and was superior to the Caribbean, that had their first offensive around the 22 minute mark through Ryan Johnson with a header sent out.

However, the 'Tri' was erratic to define and therefore the tie persisted. Andres Guardado midfielder of Valencia (Spain), placed a great pass to Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez from Manchester United, who shot and was close to open the scoring.

Shortly after the star of the second half, Mexico came out with an offensive attitude and when only three minutes had elapsed, the team opened the scoring with a headed goal from De Nigris, Monterrey's forward.

Jamaica reacted and was close to tie it at 73, with a play that Marvin Elliot couldn't solve well.

Five minutes from the end, Mexicans could have widened the gap through a left-footed shot from Hernandez, but the ball went far from the Jamaican goal.

With this victory, Mexico reached the top position of the CONCACAF qualifying for Brazil 2014 with six points, followed by Panama (5), Costa Rica, United States and Honduras, with four each, and Jamaica (2).

The first three of the final round go straight to the World Championship, and the fourth plays a confirmation match against the champion of the Oceania qualifiers.

The qualifying round will continue on Friday with the encounters between Jamaica - United States, Panama - Mexico and Costa Rica - Honduras.