Jamaica and South Africa drew 3-3 on Sunday, joining the United States and Costa Rica in the quarterfinals of the Concacaf Gold Cup while Mexico beat Guatemala 4-0 to recover from its upset loss to the Bafana Bafana two days earlier.
Honduras also clinched a quarterfinal berth, beating Colombia 2-1 in Miami to hand the South Americans their second loss.
Teafore Bennett scored in the 80th minute to give Jamaica the draw with South Africa, which went ahead 3-2 in the 56th minute despite being reduced to 10 men three minutes after the start of the second half.
The result left both teams with four points in Group C, one ahead of Mexico, which used two goals by Jared Borgetti in the opening 13 minutes to cruise past Guatemala.
Despite allowing the late equaliser, South Africa assured itself of advancing with a game to play in a tournament its coach Stuart Baxter admitted he brought a second-choice roster.
South Africa, which arrived without almost all of its European-based players and much of its top domestic talent, led three times, the last when Siyabonga Nomvete scored from 11m.
The goal came despite defender Siboniso Gaxa being ejected in the 48th minute for a violent foul.
But Bennett entered the game in the 65th minute and scored on a four-yard header off Andy Williams’ free kick from the right wing. Bennett beat defender Lucky Lekgwathi and headed the ball over goalkeeper Thabani Radebe.
South Africa scored first on Abram Raselemane’s six-yard volley off Nomvete’s header in the 35th minute. Jamaica’s Jermaine Hue tied the score one minute later with a 28-yard drive.
South Africa took a 2-1 lead in the 41st minute when Lungisani Ndlela headed Elrio Van Heerden’s corner kick from five yards. Damion Stewart’s three-yard header inside the right post off Williams’ corner kick tied the score two minutes later.
In the later game, Borgetti’s two goals put El Tri ahead 2-0 lead and eased the anxiety of the Mexicans, which after a fourth-place finish at the Confederations Cup, were beaten by South Africa 2-1 on Friday.
”It’s a competition that’s not easy to win,” Mexico coach Ricardo Lavolpe said. ”But we attacked from the outset and imposed our style of play.”
Gerardo Galindo and Omar Bravo also scored as Mexico put itself back on course to advance.
Borgetti, who leads Concacaf World Cup qualifying with 12 goals, scored his first goal in the fourth minute. Luis Ernesto Perez passed from the left wing to Borgetti, who trapped the ball with his right thigh. Borgetti eluded defender Victor Hernandez and kicked a left-footed shot inside the left post from 13 yards.
Nine minutes later, Borgetti scored again. Against two defenders, Borgetti kicked a low 15-yard shot that deflected off the right hand of goalkeeper Miguel Angel Klee.
”Borgetti is a goal scorer,” Lavolpe said. ”He does very well in getting away from defenders and is able to find the goal.”
Goalie Moises Munoz made four first-half saves in registering the shutout.
”[Four] minutes into the game, we made a defensive error trying to clear the ball ,” Guatemala coach Ramon Maradiaga said. ”They took advantage of that opportunity and proved they were the superior team.”
Guatemala’s Guillermo Ramirez will miss the team’s game against South Africa on Wednesday after he put his finger in the face of referee Oscar Ruiz, who gave him a red card in the 88th minute. – Sapa-AP