Georgia, USA — Men of adventure and daring often do what they do because ultimately they want their exploits to be documented for time immemorial.

In every field of endeavour, the leading exponents want their piece of history. But making history, it seems, is not always a pursued goal. In some cases, a moment of history is created out of an innocent act.

On Wednesday evening at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, one gets the feeling that when Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz made history by defeating the USA 2-1 in the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the landmark was pursued rather than coincidental.

Jamaica opened the scoring in Wednesday’s match in front of nearly 70,000 spectators through Vancouver Whitecaps’s Darren Mattocks in the 30th minute, while Houston Dynamo’s Giles Barnes added a second six minutes later with a superb free kick from 20 yards.

The USA got their consolation when Michael Bradley pounced on a spill by Jamaican goalie Ryan Thompson in the 48th minute.

The win is a first for many reasons. For one, it marks the first time Jamaica were defeating the USA on home soil; the first time they were advancing to the Gold Cup final; the first Caribbean side to reach the final; and the first time the Boyz were defeating them at the Gold Cup.

It was indeed a history-making bonanza for the Boyz who will now face Mexico at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Sunday.

The elder statesman of Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz, Jobi McAnuff, said winning the tournament and creating history has been a goal from day one.

“Tonight it (creating history) was a massive motivation for us and that is something that has been driving us on, and I think it helped us get through it today (Wednesday) as you saw from the effort from everybody today, it has been a real motivation for us.

“It’s amazing, and I am in football a long time, and you don’t make history every day because a lot of times you are out there working hard and you don’t get what you deserve,” said the 33-year-old.

McAnuff, who plays for League Two outfit Leyton Orient, said the pioneering Boyz were able to chart the new course by some fundamental principles.

“It’s just the real togetherness, although throughout the tournament there have been a few ups and downs. But we have used everything to motivate us, we have got a great spirit among the guys and everyone is working for each other. And when you have that it’s a hard thing to beat.

“But as we have done in the other games, we stuck together and everybody in the whole squad has played a part and has contributed to history really,” noted McAnuff.

In reflecting on the match, played before almost 70,000 spectators, McAnuff admitted it was a testy match, even though they led 2-0 at half-time.

“We did very well. We just tried to make the point to get to half-time without conceding, and we knew we were in a strong position for the second half.

“In the second half we wanted to start big, but we made them come and obviously they got the goal, which was a little fortunate for them from my point of view. But we were obviously up against it for the rest of the half,” McAnuff said.

The former Reading FC player, with 189 appearances including 14 goals to his name, said after the game that for his team to be able to withstand the late USA bombardment, the collective experience on the field came to the fore.

“That was key, having that bit of experience in the squad with players who have been in that scenario before, and we knew we had to get through that last 10, 15 minutes without conceding. But it was a mixture of good defending, luck and a bit of woodwork here and there,” McAnuff told Jamaican reporters.

With Jamaica having played against the USA some 22 times prior, McAnuff revealed that nothing that they brought to the battlefield was new to his team.

“We knew what to expect from the USA. they obviously have got a lot players who play at a very high level, but so have we and we knew that going into the game; we knew what we had and we tried to focus on that.”

McAnuff, who gave yeoman service throughout the tournament, says Jamaica have now shaken their well-worn underdog tag as they look to the final in Philadelphia on Sunday against Mexico, a powerhouse of the game.

“We have got a lot to be proud of and there is a lot to fear by countries when they come up against us now,” McAnuff added.

Prior to this tournament, Jamaica have qualified twice for the semi-finals and finished third in 1993.

Jamaica, after years of failure to defeat the USA at the senior level, finally broke that spell with a 2-1 win in Kingston in 2012 in the Brazil 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign.