ATLANTA — The United States had everything on its side. History. A raucous home crowd. And, supposedly, the better team.
None of it prevented Jamaica from handing the Americans their biggest upset defeat.
The Reggae Boyz stunned the U.S. team with a pair of first-half goals, one off a blunder by goalkeeper Brad Guzan, and held on for a 2-1 victory in the CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinals Wednesday night.
Instead of heading on to an expected berth in Sunday’s title game at Philadelphia, the Americans will play a day earlier for third place following their first home loss to a Caribbean nation since a 1969 defeat to Haiti.
“Obviously the team is disappointed. The fans are disappointed,” U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said. “We wanted to play in the big final Sunday.”
Darren Mattocks, who plays for the Vancouver Whitecaps in Major League Soccer, put Jamaica ahead with a 31st-minute header directly off a throw-in. The Houston Dynamo’s Giles Barnes followed five minutes later with a goal on an 18-yard free kick after Guzan was caught outside the penalty area on a routine throw.
Other than those two set plays, the Americans largely dominated. They finished with a 10-3 edge in shots on goal — including eight in the second half, as they furiously charged at Jamaican goalkeeper Ryan Thompson, who plays for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in the third-tier United Soccer League.
Thompson was up to the task, turning aside every shot but Michael Bradley’s goal in the 48th minute.
“My phone hasn’t stopped, as you can imagine,” said Barnes, savoring one of his country’s greatest victories. “Back in Jamaica, there’s got to be a party going on. Everybody knows how we are.”
Jamaica, ranked 76th in the world, became the first Caribbean nation to reach a Gold Cup final and will face Mexico, a 2-1 winner over Panama in the wild second semifinal.
The Jamaicans want more, said their German coach, Winfried Schaefer.
“We have one more match to play,” he said. “Bob Marley is for after the match.”
The 34th-ranked Americans, who had played in five straight Gold Cup finals and were the defending champion, will face Panama. They also must meet the Gold Cup winner in a playoff for the North and Central American and Caribbean berth in the 2017 Confederations Cup.
Panama’s Roman Torres scored on a header early in the second half, and the 1-0 lead held until Guardado’s penalty kick in stoppage time.
Panama played at a disadvantage after forward Luis Tejada drew a red card and was ejected for his contact with Mexico’s Francisco Rodriguez about 25 minutes into the match.
Howard plans return: Goalkeeper Tim Howard is ready to make himself available for the U.S. national team again after taking a break since the 2014 World Cup.
The 36-year-old Howard, who plays for Everton in the English Premier League, was allowed a sabbatical from international soccer in August last year.
Howard is targeting selection for the United States’ friendly match against Peru on Sept. 4.
