(Reuters) - El Salvador got their Gold Cup campaign off to a winning start on Monday with a 1-0 win over Curacao in Jamaica.
Nelson Bonilla ran on to a through ball from Oscar Ceren in the dying seconds of the first half and his angled shot into the bottom right-hand corner of the net proved the winner.
The Group C game was held at Kingston’s Independence Park as part of the Gold Cup expansion plans promoted by the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF).
In addition to increasing the number of teams taking part in this year’s tournament to 16 from 12, CONCACAF arranged for games to be played in Jamaica and Costa Rica as well as in the United States.
Both teams now head to the United States, where El Salvador take on Jamaica in the first game of a double header in Houston on Friday. Honduras play Curacao later the same day.
(Reporting by Andrew Downie; Editing by Peter Rutherford)