Andre Blake and Jamaica draw Curaçao, advance to Gold Cup quarterfinal in Philadelphia

Andre Blake will miss at least two more games with the Philadelphia Union, but he’ll be back in town this weekend for the Gold Cup quarterfinal after Jamaica survived a late surge from Curaçao to book a spot in the next round with a 1-1 draw.

Blake wasn’t called on to make a save until the 74th minute when Leandro Bacuna struck a ball from distance right at the 28-year-old and he made a stop on another Bacuna shot seconds later. Blake was minutes away from recording a clean sheet when Juriën Gaari rocketed a shot from distance Blake could only watch going into the upper corner of the net. Blake looked to be beaten again on another dangerous chance for Elson Hooi two minutes later but his shot went wide.

The final result was a letdown for the Reggae Boyz, which had a golden opportunity to go 2-0 up on a sitter Shamar Nicholson missed in the 79th minute, but Jamaica still finished the winner of Group C thanks to a 4-0 drubbing by Honduras over El Salvador that sent Curaçao through on goal differential.

Jamaica will face the second place finisher in Group D at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday in the first of two quarterfinals at the Linc. That will be the U.S. if they slip up against Panama and don’t win the group.