Jamaica beats Honduras to win Gold Cup Group B

HARRISON, N.J. – Ryan Johnson scored a flukey first-half goal that bounced off the back of the head of the goalkeeper and Jamaica defeated Honduras 1-0 on Monday night to capture Group B and advance to the Gold Cup quarterfinals.

The 58th-ranked Reggae Boys (3-0) will play the second-place finisher in Group C — it might be the United States — on Sunday in Washington, D.C.

Honduras (1-1-1) falls in the bracket with defending champion Mexico and will face Costa Rica on Saturday at the New Meadowlands Stadium.

Both teams were assured of quarterfinals berths before kickoff.

Guatemala also advanced to the quarters earlier as the third-place team from Group B, defeating Grenada 4-0. It will learn its opponent and quarterfinal location after Group C wraps up play on Tuesday.

Johnson got the winner in the 36th minute after cutting across the middle of the Honduran defense. He ripped a shot off the crossbar from roughly 28 yards and the ball bounced down and struck the back of Noel Valladares' head and went into the net.

Valladares, Honduras' starter at the World Cup, got a measure of revenge in the 72nd minute when he made a diving stop on a penalty kick by Johnson. Play was delayed for a couple of minutes before the attempt because angry Honduran fans in the sellout crowd of 25,000 at Red Bull Arena littered the field with glass and plastic bottles after referee Joel Aguilar of El Salvador awarded the penalty.

Jamaica goalkeeper Dwayne Miller made four saves, including a fingertip stop on a blistering 40-yard free kick by Victor Bernardez.

Honduras, which is ranked No. 43, only had four of its 11 starters from last year's World Cup. The Catrachos lost forward Carlo Costly early with a rib injury. He had three goals in a win against Grenada earlier in the tournament.