WIENER NEUSTADT, Austria, CMC – Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz conceded two second half goals to slump to a 2-1 defeat to Jordan in their international friendly here yesterday.
Cory Burke had given Jamaica a 0 lead at the break when he converted from the spot in the 39th minute but Mahmoud Al-Mardi (55th) and Ali Olwan (62nd) scored in the space of eight minutes to dash the Caribbean side’s hopes.
The defeat was the second for Jamaica in the last five days, following a similar result against Qatar last week.
On the back foot early in the contest at the Wiener Neustadt Arena after Jordan created a few half-chances, Jamaica scored against the run of play when Major League Soccer star Burke squeezed his spot kick under goalkeeper Abdallah Al-Fakhouri lunge to the right.
Jamaica should have doubled their advantage in the 53rd minute but Shsmar Nicholson shot wide from close range, and they were made to pay for their wastefulness when Mahmoud Al-Mardi equalised moments later. Musa Al-Taamari dragged centre back Di’Shon Bernard down the right, got free and squared his pass across the face of goal for Al-Mardi’s simple tap in.
And Al-Taamari was also involved in the second goal, sweeping a cross into the box where Yazan Al-Naimat headed down on the volley for Olwan to tuck in at the far post.
Jamaica are warming up for next week’s start of the CONCACAF Gold Cup in the United States.