Reggae Boyz Olympians advance

KINGSTON: Jamaica needed an 85th minute goal from substitute Roland Dean to beat Cuba 1-0 and eliminate the Spanish-speaking side in their CONCACAF (Under-23) Olympic qualifying first round tie on Sunday.

After a 1-1 draw between the two teams in Havana last month, Sunday’s return match at the Tony Spaulding Complex was again competitive and the home side squeezed home in the end to advance to the second round. They will face Guatemala in a two-way tie in November for a place in CONCACAF’s final round of qualifying next February. Second-half substitute Keith Kelly, who had lengthy stint in Europe in recent years, made a decisive impact on the game and set up Dean’s winner five minutes from the end. Collecting a midfield pass from Kelly, Dean had a clear run towards the goal and slotted past the Cuban goalkeeper. Guatemala secured their second round spot when they defeated Suriname 6-0 in Guatemala Sunday for an 8-0 triumph on aggregate.

The winner of the Jamaica/ Guatemala second round tie in November, will advance along with the other second round winners to the CONCACAF final round join the host Mexico in the final round of CONCACAF qualification from February 2-12 2004 for only two berths to the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.