JAMAICA WILL not be repeat participants at the Under-20 World Cup next year.
The Young Reggae Boyz were eliminated yesterday after playing to a 0-0 draw with host Haiti in Port-Au-Prince in the second leg of a two-way qualifier to lose 1-2 on aggregate. Both teams were battling for the final spot in the last round of the CONCACAF round of qualifiers.
In the first leg qualifier which took place in Jamaica two weeks ago, the home team which were the last hopefuls from the English-speaking Caribbean, were highly fancied to put away the Haitians but gave a poor display and were shocked by goals from Kelly Jean Rood and Max Louis.
An early strike in the second half by Richard West gave the Young Reggae Boyz, who had five players taking the field who featured in 2001 finals in Argentina, brief hope but it never amounted to much more.
Haiti will now progress to Group B of the qualifiers which takes place in the United States from November 13-17. Other teams in this Group are the host country, Canada and El Salvador.
A second group hosted by Panama and including Guatemala, Mexico and Cuba will compete from October 16-20. The top two teams from each group will advance to the finals set for the United Arab Emirates from March 25 to April 16.
