2015 Gold Cup Betting – Costa Rica vs. Jamaica
By Zack Garrison in News
Updated: January 17, 2018 at 9:39 am ESTPublished:
Costa Rica (-125) vs Jamaica (+375), Draw (+229)
After a great performance in the 2014 World Cup, Costa Rica enters the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup with lofty expectations. The first stop for the Ticos is a match with 65th-ranked Jamaica to open Group B play tonight at the StubHub Center in Los Angeles (8:00 PM Eastern).
Costa Rica finished Brazil 2014 as the eighth-best team in the tournament, beating the likes of Italy, Uruguay, and Greece while drawing against England and losing to the Netherlands on penalties. The Ticos have never won the Gold Cup but they are the third in the odds heading into the tournament at +520 to win it, behind Mexico and team USA (both at +137).
The Costa Ricans are favorites to win Group B, rated at -150, followed by tonight’s opponent Jamaica at +240. The Ticos haven’t won a game in 2015, but a narrow loss against Spain (2-1 away) and a draw against Mexico (2-2 in the US), showed they can still hang with the best teams on the planet.
Jamaica are coming off a quick ousting in the Copa America after they lost all their three games by a 1-0 result. Despite the defeats, the Caribbean team showed discipline on defense while facing strong sides like Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina. But defending alone won’t win them games in the Gold Cup, and neither will boycotting practices over missed pay.
“All is well that ends well,” Jamaica Football Federation president Horace Burrell told the Jamaica Gleaner. “It took a longer time than we first anticipated, but in the end I’m very happy to report now that all has been settled, and so all players will make themselves available for the start of the Gold Cup tomorrow.”
Being available is one thing; showing up ready to play is another. This Jamaican team needs to find an offensive touch, but it’s unlikely it will be discovered tonight, even with Costa Rica missing star keeper Keylor Navas (achilles).
Three of the last five games between Costa Rica and Jamaica have ended in a draw, but on the road to the 2014 World Cup the Ticos won 2-0 at home and drew 1-1 in Kingston. The only time they have met at the Gold Cup, Costa Rica won 1-0 back in 2009.
Pick: Costa Rica -125.
(Photo Credit: Kenneth Sørensen (Originally posted to Flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/].)
Sports Writer
Zack is a tour guide whose favorite sports are football, baseball, and golf. He enjoys giving obnoxious commentary during games and hopes to some day write a book about sports. His favorite underdog victory was the Diamondbacks beating the Yankees in game 7 of the World Series.
