ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — The Jamaica unified male football team can secure a place in the Division One semi-finals of the Special Olympics World Summer Games if they avoid defeat against United Arab Emirates (UAE) in today’s Group A match inside Zayed Sports City.

Yesterday Special Olympics Jamaica (SOJ) surged into sole leadership of the group, after first-half goals from Damion Gordon and Ryan Lewis and a late strike by Herman Beckford helped them beat Spain 3-1 in wet and cool conditions at the Zayed sporting facility.

It was particularly satisfying for Jamaica that all three of their scorers were athletes with intellectual disabilities. Pablo Galvez notched the lone goal for the European side.

Jamaica have six points after previously blanking South Africa 4-0. UAE, who lost 1-2 to Spain in their group opener earlier this week, climb to second with three points after defeating South Africa 4-0 yesterday.

Spain are also on three points, but they are third due to an inferior goal difference to the hosts, while South Africa are at the foot of the group without a point.

SOJ football Head Coach Shane Richards said taking a 2-0 lead provided the ideal cushion against the pesky Spaniards.

“We know that Spain wouldn’t come easy at us so we basically stayed behind the ball because they play patiently. We didn’t try to run them down because they would have had us [chasing], so we stayed disciplined,” he told the Jamaica Observer during a post-match interview.

“We got two early goals which was good, and thank God we have six points from our two games. We have this game against the hosts so we’ve got to be cautious,” Richards added.

The Jamaicans drew first blood inside the opening 10 minutes of the 60-minute encounter when Gordon picked up a loose ball, after Spain failed to clear a right-sided corner kick. His curling effort from close to the opposite corner flag eluded goalkeeper Adrian Corchette and went into the goal.

The opener was met by fervent cheers from about three dozen Jamaica supporters — decked in black, green and gold — mostly from the Diaspora community in the Middle East.

Lewis, who scored against South Africa, got his second of the group stage when he rifled past Corchette from close range.

As light rain persisted at the venue, Spain pegged back the Jamaicans for much of the second half but struggled to get a clear opening. They did eventually pull a goal back when Galvez sneaked in at the back post to head down and into the net.

At the other end, the speedy Jamaicans were a threat as their opponents stretched themselves in search of the equaliser. With the clock winding down, any chance of a Spain comeback was extinguished when Beckford had an easy finish from inside the 18-yard box.

SOJ’s unified female team also won yesterday, beating Ivory Coast 2-1 in a seven-a-side match lasting 40 minutes. Tiffany Gayle and Aaliyah Treleven got the goals for Jamaica. They are scheduled to battle their counterparts from Serbia this afternoon.

—Sanjay Myers