Brown rescues point for young Reggae Boyz

Jamaica’s young Reggae Boyz rebounded from a two-goal deficit to dramatically earn a 2-2 draw with Panama at the Estadio Universitario BUAP in Puebla, Mexico.

Moisés Richards opened the scoring in the 13th minute to hand Panama the lead, striking with a left-footed effort from the top of the box.

A great passing sequence resulted in Panama doubling that lead in the 22nd through Gerson Gordón.

The Jamaicans were down but not out, and they turned to a familiar name to keep them in the game.

Jahmarie Nolan.

Nolan shortened the deficit for Jamaica in the 62nd minute.

Just when it seemed all was lost, the Reggae Boyz showed a similar fight to the way they did in their opener against Honduras. In that game, Brandon Bent scored in the fifth minute of added time to hand the Reggae Boyz a 2-1 win.

The fifth minute of time added had passed.

It was now the sixth minute of time added, but Jamaica had a free kick just inside Panama’s defensive third.

The whipped cross fell to the head of Jaquan Brown, who made no mistake.

Jamaica will face Canada in their third and final group-stage match on Saturday. Panama take on Honduras for their final Group C encounter.

The result leaves Jamaica second in Group C with four points, the same as leaders Canada, while Panama and Honduras are third and fourth, respectively, with a point each.

Canada and Honduras played to a 0-0 draw yesterday, leaving the group interestingly poised.

With one round of games left to be played, no team has been eliminated yet.

The top two teams from three groups qualify for the next round, while the two best third-placed teams will advance to the quarter-finals.

The winners of the quarter-finals will secure automatic qualification to the 2027 U20 World Cup in Azerbaijan.