Costa Rica defender Johnny Acosta. (Photo : Getty Images)
Two straight Copa Centroamericana champions Costa Rica (2-0-1, 7 points) will look to bounce back from a disappointing performance in their first match with the Gold Cup runners-up Jamaica (1-1-1, 4 points) during the previous matchday of the CONCACAF 2018 World Cup qualifiers as they clash again this time at the Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica in San José on March 29th, Tuesday.
La Sele was forced into a 1-1 draw by the Reggae Boyz in their first meeting at the Independence Park in Kingston last Friday, March 25th, as reported by Reuters.
New England Revolution defender Je-Vaughn Watson opened the scoring at the 16th minute for head coach Winfried Schäfer's boys to give the Group B leaders a scare early in the match.
Jamaica managed to preserve the lead until the halftime break as head coach Oscar Ramírez's side could not find the goal in the first 45 minutes of the contest.
Costa Rica's equalizing goal came in the middle of the second half, at the 67th minute via Soccerway, as center back Johnny Acosta shot back a rebound off a save by Jamaican goalkeeper Andre Blake.
The tie kept Los Ticos on top of the Group B standings, three points clear off second-running Panama, who is tied on points with Jamaica but has a superior goal difference of +1 to the Reggae Boyz's -1. Haiti and Panama also settled for a 0-0 draw in the same matchday at the Stade Sylvio Cator in Port-au-Prince, which kept the group table virtually unmoved.
After the group stage matches, the top two teams from each bracket will form one single group in the final round of qualifiers called the Hex, which would be another home-and-away round-robin set-up.
The top three teams after the Hex will advance in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia while the fourth-placed squad will compete in the inter-confederation playoffs that will determine the final two qualification spots to the World Cup.
The predicted result is a 1-0 victory for Costa Rica.
Costa Rica starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): Navas; Acosta, Matarrita, Gonzalez, Gamboa; Waston, Borges, Azofeifa; Ruiz, Campbell, Ureña
Jamaica starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Blake; Mariappa, Phillips, Powell, Morgan; Lawrence, Hector; McAnuff, Watson, Williamson; Donaldson
