Last Tuesday  the Reggae Boyz played a crucial World Cup qualifying match at was used to be their impenetrable “Office” . They qualified for the 1998 competition by not losing any home games but last week Independence Park felt like it was transported to San José.

Jamaica’s Westley Morgan heads the ball under pressure from Costa Rica’s Joel Campbell with a sea of Costa Rican supporters in the stands

When I arrived one hour before kick-off, the grandstands were a sea of red with barely a splash of gold, green or black. Over the course of an hour, more Jamaican supporters arrived but unfortunately their numbers were dwarfed by the visitors. This set the stage for a highly competitive game. Costa Rica were leading the six team group and wanted to ensure qualification, while Jamaica needed a win to keep their unrealistic hopes of qualifying alive. The match ended 1-1, which meant that Costa Rica qualified for Rio 2014, while Jamaica now has 4 points with two games left to play and still have a mathematical chance of qualifying. The following are highlights of the game: [zooeffect AUMAHSLhdNUg]