Rangers star Kemar Roofe scored his first international goal in a crucial 2-0 World Cup Qualifying win for Jamaica in Honduras.
Roofe opted to play for the Caribbean island nation earlier this year, citing a desire to feature at Qatar 2022.
Yet, prior to this clash in San Pedro Sula, things really hadn’t been going to plan.
The Reggae Boyz sat at the bottom of the CONCACAF final round table on just two points from their opening five fixtures.
A lack of goals had been a key problem, with the previous two results in this block a 2-0 defeat to the USA and a 0-0 draw with Canada.
Theodore Whitmore’s side got their first three points of their campaign overnight, though, with an impressive away win.
The hosts dominated possession and created a few more chances across the 90 minutes, but the visitors were more clinical.
Roofe has been in fine goalscoring form for Rangers so far this season – scoring six times in eleven appearances – and his first international goal came in the 38th minute as he cleverly diverted Shamar Nicholson’s shot beyond Honduras keeper Luis Lopez from close range.
The match was delicately poised at 1-0 for a long time before a moment of quality from LA Galaxy’s Oniel Fisher, who cut inside from the left and bent a brilliant finish into the far top corner from the edge of the box in the 79th minute to double Jamaica’s advantage and kill the contest.
The win moved the Reggae Boyz up two places to sixth in the table and while there’s still a lot of work to be done, it has boosted their chances of successfully turning around a poor start to qualify for Qatar 2022.
Meanwhile, another Rangers star’s World Cup hopes are officially over after a cruel defeat.