DENVER — Mexico and Jamaica played to a scoreless draw Thursday night and remained on track to advance to the knockout round of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Neither team could break through on a relatively mild night, although Mexico (1-0-1) dominated chances. The 49,121 fans in attendance, the largest crowd to attend a soccer match at Sports Authority Field, heavily favoured Mexico.
Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio served the second of his six-game sideline suspension for berating an official. His team, which beat El Salvador 3-1 in the opener Sunday, did everything but score against Jamaica (1-0-1). It held possession for the majority of the night but never got one past keeper Damian Hyatt.
When Hyatt couldn’t make a save, his teammates came through.
The best chance to score came on Mexico’s fourth corner in the 39th minute when Jesus Molina bounced a header off the turf toward an open net. Jamaican defender Jermaine Taylor deflected it off his head over the crossbar to keep the match scoreless.
Mexico’s Erick Torres had a good chance in the 11th minute off a free kick, but the ball went over the goal. Later, Elias Hernandez, the star in Sunday’s win with two goals, sent a ball to the front of the net that Jamaica cleared.
Torres again had a chance in the 24th minute.
Jamaica, a 2-0 winner over Curacao on Sunday, didn’t generate much in the first half, but nearly scored on one of its only chances when Cory Burke crossed a ball to the far post. Oniel Fisher couldn’t control it before goalkeeper Moises Munoz scooped it up.
Burke left the game on a stretcher in the 87th minute after a collision near midfield.
Mexico got a scare in the 25th minute when Torres went down following a collision with Jamaica’s Damion Lowe. He briefly left after a trainer attended to his right hand but returned moments later.
The chances kept coming for Mexico in the second half. In the 50th minute, Hernandez bent a free kick just over the net, and he put a low shot on goal moments later that forced Hyatt to make a save.
In the first match, El Salvador beat Curacao 2-0 to improve to 1-1 in pool play. Forward Rodolfo Zelaya had a goal and an assist and Gerson Mayen scored the other goal for El Salvador.
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