For the first 15 minutes, the Reggae Boyz pegged El Tri back and in its most fulsome sequence Simon Dawkins should have finished off a cross from Jobi McAnuff but the ball skipped millimeters away from him. But Mexico weathered the initial assault and Andres Guardado, the no brainer MVP of the tournament, carrying the side on his small, wiry frame since the beginning of the Gold Cup, unsurprisingly catapulted El Tri into the lead as he brilliantly side footed a volley past Ryan Johnson after Paul Aguilar sought him out with a measured cross.

Mexico doubled their lead within seconds of the second half resumption as pint sized wunderkid Jesus Corona robbed Michael Hector and without breaking stride arrowed a shot past Johnson. Hector, one of the standouts of the Gold Cup, had another defensive mare as he failed to clear a cross from Paul Aguilar and Oribe Peralta was at hand to pounce on the flub to finish. Jamaican sub Darren Mattocks pulled one back with a sweetly angled drive past Memo Ochoa to give some succour to a deflated Jamaican side. All too little, all too late. But Jamaica’s larger statement is beyond this Gold Cup, they carry enough serrations to threaten the future of the USA-Mexico plutocracy.

Unlike Mike Geiger’s error strewn refereeing which wrecked the Mexico vs Panama semi-finals, El Salvador’s Joel Aguilar, had a handle on this final. Jesus Duenas could have become the first red card victim for blatantly holding back Jobi McAnuff as he was motoring into the box but Aguilar risked controversy and Duenas escaped with a booking. Similarly, Jamaica’s captain Rodolph Austin already on a yellow constantly flirted with ejection, scything down Francisco Rodriguez and then shoving Jonathan Dos Santos.

For the USA, the Mexico win means they challenge El Tri in a playoff to be played in October at the Rose Bowl for a spot in the 2017 Confederations Cup. Head scratching time for Jurgen Klinsmann who has a myriad of problems to solve before then.