Defeats For Duo

No joy for Howard or Oviedo in World Cup qualifiers.

There was World Cup qualifying woe for Tim Howard and Bryan Oviedo in the early hours of Saturday morning as the USA fell to a shock defeat in Jamaica before Costa Rica were undone at home by Mexico.

Michael Bradley and former Everton loanee Landon Donovan were both missing through injury and, deprived of two key players, the US suffered a first loss against the Jamaicans in 19 meetings between the two sides.

Named as captain for the evening, Howard played the full 90 minutes and the contest got off to the perfect start when Tottenham's Clint Dempsey fired the visitors ahead after just 36 seconds.

But there was little Howard could do as Rodolph Austin and Jamaica's all-time leading scorer Luton Shelton netted free-kicks either side of the break to turn the match on its head.

Costa Rica, meanwhile, were powerless to prevent Mexico keeping up their perfect start to their qualifying campaign as goals from Jesus Zavala and former Fulham defender Carlos Salcido gave the Group B leaders a comfortable 2-0 win.

Oviedo played a full 90 minutes in what was his first outing since completing a move to Everton from FC Copenhagen last week.

Both the USA and Costa Rica will get a shot at revenge on Tuesday. Howard's US welcome Jamaica to Colombus, Ohio, while Oviedo and Costa Rica face a reverse fixture in Mexico City.

For a full round-up of how Everton’s internationals fared in the European World Cup qualifiers, click here.