Dane Richards Playing For Jamaican National Team

Oct. 16, 2008

BUENOS AIRES, Oct 16 (Reuters) – Jamaica followed up Saturday’s shocking 1-0 home win over Mexico with a repeat performance against Honduras on Wednesday to stay in the hunt for a place in the final round of the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers.

Former Clemson Soccer player Dane Richards plays for the Jamaican team. Richards played for the Tigers in 2005 and 2006. He was an All-American in 2006 and was named All-South and All-ACC that season.

El Salvador booked their spot with a 3-0 win over Suriname while Trinidad & Tobago are virtually there after Russell Latapy and Dwight Yorke, who have a combined age of 76, gave them a 2-1 win over the United States.

Mexico are also close to advancing to the final round of North and Central American qualifiers despite being held 2-2 by already-eliminated Canada, a result that will heap more pressure on under-fire Swedish coach Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Norwegian-based striker Luton Shelton rounded Noel Valladares to score Jamaica’s only goal in the 16th minute in Kingston and give caretaker coach Theodore Whitmore his second successive win since replacing Rene Simoes.

Jamaica are third in Group Two in the third stage of the region’s qualifiers with seven points while Mexico lead with 10 and Honduras are second with nine. The top two go through.

Honduras host Mexico in their final game while Jamaica entertains Canada in what is likely to be their first game under former England forward John Barnes, who is due to take over from Whitmore in November.