By Craig Merz

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Celso Borges scored in the 64th minute against short-handed Jamaica for a 1-0 victory in the second match of Group A play in the CONCACAF Gold Cup on Tuesday in Crew Stadium.

Costa Rica improved to three points while Jamaica lost its second straight with one match remaining.

"I guarantee that (the win) is going to help us a lot," Costa Rica coach Rodrigo Kenton said. "Losing in these kind of short tournaments, it's very difficult to pick it back up again. Winning a game like today, it gives us more confidence. We are in the game again. We are in the tournament again."

Borges converted from a service from Pablo Herrera, who entered the match 11 minutes earlier. Herrera's cross from the right flank found an open Borges for a volley from 6 yards. Goalkeeper Donovan
Ricketts got a hand on the shot but could not stop it.

Jamaica went down a man in the 35th minute when U.S. referee Jair Marrufo sent Rodolph Austin for kicking Borges in the head.

"I don t know if it was intentional or not, but it was a kick," Borges said. He said the goal was not personal retribution. "It was group revenge," he said. "We had many good chances, some
balls off the crossbar, some balls we didn't finish very well. At the end, we took advantage of the chance we had."

With Jamaica pushing for the equalizer, Costa Rica had several chances to seal the match, but Warren Granados could not get on the end of a Herrera pass in the 81st and Ricketts saved a shot from
Walter Centeno a minute later.

Those misses nearly cost Costa Rican in the 90th minute, but Jamaica's Demar Phillips failed on a volley deep in the penalty area after a service from Omar Cummings.

"The guys did well for the remainder of the match (after the ejection). We tried to get a goal. It was a fight to the end," Jamaica coach Theodore Whitmore said.

Costa Rica looked for opportunities with the extra man and found one in the 43rd minute when Froylan Ledezma's side volley near the penalty spot was on target only to be saved by Ricketts. He also got
behind the defense on the left side for a near-side shot that Ricketts denied in stoppage time.

Cummings squandered a glorious opportunity for the game's first goal in the 51st when he had a solo attack on Gonzalez. Cummings waited for support then tried to dribble and shoot around the
keeper but Gonzalez was able to smother the attempt.

"We tried to keep the ball as much as possible. We had good chances but we didn't put them away," Jamaican captain Ricardo Gardner said. "It was disappointing going down to 10 men but that's how
football is."

Costa Rica, the leader in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying was beaten 2-1 by El Salvador on Friday in Los Angeles, while Canada downed Jamaica 1-0.

Group play ends July 10 in Miami at FIU Stadium with Costa Rica facing Canada and El Salvador playing Jamaica.