Bora in England to see Gardner
PAUL A REID, Observer writer reidp@jamaicaobserver.com
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Jamaica's technical director Velibor 'Bora' Milutinovic is in England where he is expected to meet with senior national player Ricardo 'Bibi' Gardner some time this weekend.
Milutinovic, who returned to the island on Sunday night from Haiti where he watched Jamaica's Olympic team lose 1-2 to Haiti on the way to being knocked out of qualifying contention, left the island less than 24 hours later bound for England.
Burchell Gibson, general secretary of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), yesterday confirmed that the Serbian-born Milutinovic had left the island, but could not say how long he would be away.
While in Haiti last week Milutinovic indicated to the Observer that he was planning on travelling to England to see Gardner, but said he was yet to confirm things with the federation.
The veteran coach will watch Gardner in action for struggling English Premier League team Bolton Wanderers against leaders Arsenal in London on Saturday.
Gardner, who has captained the national team, is one of a handful of players left from the historic Jamaican squad that took part at the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France who is still active.
Meanwhile, Bolton are in turmoil in the premiership and sit second to last in the standings with five points from nine games. They have won only one game since the start of the season and have just lost manager Sammy Lee after six months in charge.
Recently, Milutinovic has come under pressure from several quarters over the inactivity of the national senior team, with the start of the CONCACAF qualifying series for the 2010 FIFA World Cup fast approaching.
Jamaica will not start their regional qualifying campaign until next June, after drawing a bye at the draw recently.
PAUL A REID, Observer writer reidp@jamaicaobserver.com
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Jamaica's technical director Velibor 'Bora' Milutinovic is in England where he is expected to meet with senior national player Ricardo 'Bibi' Gardner some time this weekend.
Milutinovic, who returned to the island on Sunday night from Haiti where he watched Jamaica's Olympic team lose 1-2 to Haiti on the way to being knocked out of qualifying contention, left the island less than 24 hours later bound for England.
Burchell Gibson, general secretary of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), yesterday confirmed that the Serbian-born Milutinovic had left the island, but could not say how long he would be away.
While in Haiti last week Milutinovic indicated to the Observer that he was planning on travelling to England to see Gardner, but said he was yet to confirm things with the federation.
The veteran coach will watch Gardner in action for struggling English Premier League team Bolton Wanderers against leaders Arsenal in London on Saturday.
Gardner, who has captained the national team, is one of a handful of players left from the historic Jamaican squad that took part at the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France who is still active.
Meanwhile, Bolton are in turmoil in the premiership and sit second to last in the standings with five points from nine games. They have won only one game since the start of the season and have just lost manager Sammy Lee after six months in charge.
Recently, Milutinovic has come under pressure from several quarters over the inactivity of the national senior team, with the start of the CONCACAF qualifying series for the 2010 FIFA World Cup fast approaching.
Jamaica will not start their regional qualifying campaign until next June, after drawing a bye at the draw recently.
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