Gardner: Jamaica are still the best

[Karl]

Gardner: Jamaica are still the best

(FIFA.com) Friday 30 May 2008

Current captain Ricardo Gardner was a young member of the only Jamaica side ever to reach a FIFA World Cup™ finals, back in France in 1998. Since then, however, the 58-time-capped Bolton Wanderers utility man has seen the Reggae Boyz sink to 105th in the world and miss out on recent instalments of the Caribbean Cup and the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Speaking exclusively to FIFA.com, 'Bibi', now approaching 30, chats about why he thinks Jamaica are still the best team in the Caribbean, the triumphant return of Brazilian maestro Rene Simoes to the touchline, and his high hopes for his country reaching South Africa 2010. Currently in camp outside of Kingston in preparation for their qualifying opener on 14 June, Gardner points to a "positive vibe" in the Jamaican side.

FIFA.com: Ricardo, after missing out on the finals of the most recent Caribbean Cup and the CONCACAF Gold Cup, does Jamaica have something to prove heading into South Africa 2010 qualifying?

Ricardo Gardner: It's been a tough couple of years of us, but I wouldn't really call it a crisis or anything like that. We are a good team and we have some very good players. On the balance of the talent we have in the side, I don't see too many teams in the region who will be able to beat us.

Are Jamaica still the best team in the Caribbean?

We've been getting a challenge from some of the other teams in the Caribbean of late, like Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago. But I still think that if you look down the line at the players we have and the talent we produce consistently, we are still the best footballing nation in the Caribbean.

First up in the qualifiers you will face Bahamas. As you are heavy favourites to win the series does that add a dimension of extra pressure?

We will go into the game with the Bahamas as if they are the USA or Mexico - it's no different. Anything can happen and if we are not ready to go, the Bahamas can jump all over us and give us a hard time. Right now the vibe in our camp is good and our spirits are high [the Jamaicans are unbeaten in their last three friendlies]. We have a job to do and we are going to go out and do it.

How important is the return of former head coach Rene Simoes to the side as the qualifiers for South Africa approach?

Having Simoes back [he replaced Bora Milutinovic who was sacked late last year] to lead the team is a special thing. He is a legend in Jamaica and the players really respond to his way of working. Bringing him back was a great move by the FA and only good things can come from it.

And it will be a reunion for you as well...

Yeah, I played under him at the World Cup finals in 1998. I'm thrilled to have him back and I know he is the man to get us back to the World Cup, this time in South Africa.

As captain, how much motivation do you think you'll need to offer up to your team-mates?

When you're the captain the rest of the players are always going to look up to you. But, like I said, the vibe in the camp is very positive at the moment so I don't think I'll need to do too much motivating. We are all ready to go.

You have been with Bolton Wanderers in the English Premier League since 1998 and seen some very good years. This season, you just avoided relegation at the wire...

It was a hard year for us, but we dug deep and showed our spirit and fight in the end. In the last four games everyone showed what they were made of and ground out the results we needed. It was a huge relief. Next season we'll just need to start fresh and get back to the things that we do well as a team.

Your role for Bolton is usually a defensive one, but it seems you get the chance to play a bit of football in the middle for Jamaica...

It's all up to the boss really where I line up, but I love to play football. In the back or in the middle, with the ball or without, I will be happy to be out representing my country and working toward getting us to the World Cup.

What would it mean to the people of Jamaica if you were able to reach the finals again?

Trust me; the words do not exist to describe what it would mean for the Jamaican people if we were to get back into the World Cup finals. It means so much to everyone in the country, Jamaicans living off the island too. The country is going through some hard times at the moment and it would be a great gift for us to give to the people. We are all ready to do our part.

And for you personally...

Yeah, for me it would be a chance to get back to the finals ten years after the first time. I am a more mature player now and it would be a dream come true.

It seems like there is a special passion for football in Jamaica. Why is this?

Football lives in Jamaica. From when we are all very young the game is everywhere... on the TV, in the streets, in the conversations. There is a special connection between our island and the game of football.

[Karl]

Cuban dreams in Fanz's hands

Cuban dreams in Fanz's hands

(FIFA.com) Wednesday 9 April 2008


Rum, cigars, sunshine and palm trees all spring to mind when you think of Cuba, but the Caribbean island state of 11 million people is also known and admired around the globe as a nation of passionate athletes and sports enthusiasts. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, Cuba came third behind the Bahamas and Australia in a ranking of medals won in proportion to population. Boxing and baseball are the favourite organised sports, but football is steadily and inexorably winning a place in Cuban hearts.

Exactly 70 years have passed since the Leones del Caribe made their solitary appearance at a FIFA World Cup™ finals. The Cubans exited the 1938 tournament in France after a humbling 8-0 quarter-final defeat to Sweden, but a sense of pride at having contested the global showcase event still pervades the cafes and clubs of Havana. Now, a European has risen to the challenge of providing the Lions of the Caribbean with nourishment to satiate their footballing hunger. "I want Cuba to realise a dream by appearing at the World Cup," German coach Reinhold Fanz, recently appointed to the Cuban helm, told FIFA.com.

Sights set on Antigua and Barbuda
The 54-year-old is aware of the responsibility attached to his new job. In his home country, Fanz is not especially known as a star coach with a roomful of trophies to show for his efforts, but rather as a meticulous professional with deep reserves of expertise.

The Mannheim native, who briefly took the hot seat at Bundesliga outfit Eintracht Frankfurt, boasts unrivalled experience in creating administrative structures, and has ushered a host of talented youngsters through to the professional ranks as a behind-the-scenes operator at a number of Germany's biggest clubs. "What I want to achieve in Cuba is to help the players develop technically, tactically and physically. They have huge potential, and there's quality here too," reports Fanz, a man clearly determined to turn words into deeds. "The job here in Cuba is definitely the most interesting of my coaching career so far."

Fanz has been handed a single, clearly defined goal: to crown Cuba's steady and much lauded progress in recent years by claiming a berth at the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™. The Cubans embark on their challenging quest in mid-June with home and away matches against underdogs Antigua and Barbuda. "I've had a look at them and they're technically well-equipped, but I reckon we'll come out on top," Fanz confidently predicts. The evidence speaks in his favour: his men turned in a glittering display at the CONCACAF Gold Cup 2007, and came within a whisker of a major upset in a narrow 2-1 reverse against regional superpowers Mexico.

Should they overcome Antigua and Barbuda, Cuba would need to finish at least second in a group of four to go further than they ever have before, joining the six best CONCACAF nations in the final qualifying phase. "Obviously, Mexico and the USA are favourites, but there's a second tier behind them comprising the likes of Haiti, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, Canada, Honduras and Panama, all with hopes of making it to South Africa. We're on our way to joining this second group," the German coach comments.

'Tough but achievable'
But how realistic is it to expect Cuban dreams to come true in little over two years from now? "Everything's realistic in football. Qualifying will be tough but achievable," said the coach, whose team currently lie 110th in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking.

Fanz is hoping German virtues will unlock the door to Africa. "I'm just back from Havana, where we spent four weeks training intensively three times a day. Some of the players had trouble coping with a European pre-season programme. But they're thrilled, because they feel fitter, they're concentrating harder, and they've improved in terms of quality. And we still have a training camp in Austria ahead of us."

The new regime is clearly having an early impact, as the fresh face at the helm steadfastly pursues his chosen course. Nor is the coach allowing himself to be rattled by setbacks and distractions, including recent events in Tampa, Florida, where seven of the Cuban U-23 squad defected during a qualifying tournament for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. "It didn't come as a shock to me at all, and I'm not wasting any thoughts over it," was his reaction. "I actually think my players have noticed that the association is serious about South Africa 2010. Everything that can be done is being done. A lot of things are changing in Cuba at the moment."

Certainly, the way things are going, rum, cigars, sunshine, palm trees, boxing and baseball could soon be joined by football on the list of instant associations with Cuba. The Leones del Caribe are hungry and on the prowl.

[Zeppo]

Well, the Trinis are sure getting a charge out of this one!

http://www.socawarriors.net/forum/in...?topic=36269.0

[Me]

They are always a bit sensitive about us "arrogant yardies" and our statements. Poor lads.

[No Mercy]

Bibi and his crew have to convince me about that on the

field in the upcoming qualifying games. I am glad that he believe that we are the best but I want to see that on the field.

[Don1]

This is totally the wrong focus.

Being the best in the Caribbean is inconsequential and what Trinidadians think is immaterial and a waste of time to read.

Jamaica needs to be within the top 3 of Concacaf.

Beware of fifth columnists in your midst.. they'll sap your energies and misdirect your focus.

[Naminirt]

hey hey don1 explain " I still think that if you look down the line at the players we have and the talent we produce consistently"

And simones use meh ub40 list come on now

[Me]

This is totally the wrong focus.

Being the best in the Caribbean is inconsequential and what Trinidadians think is immaterial and a waste of time to read.

Jamaica needs to be within the top 3 of Concacaf.

Beware of fifth columnists in your midst.. they'll sap your energies and misdirect your focus.

What is the focus? and who is defining whether it is wrong or not?

[Gamma]

for now i would rather win ugly and get to the WC than look pretty and me end up going to south africa ti watch other teams representing concacaf

[HL]

Are you planning to be in SA for WC?

[Gamma]

yes....

[Don1]

hey hey don1 explain " I still think that if you look down the line at the players we have and the talent we produce consistently"

And simones use meh ub40 list come on now

maybe you should ask the person who made the statement.

[Don1]

What is the focus? and who is defining whether it is wrong or not?

If you read my post you will see what I regard as the correct focus.

Being #1 in the Caribbean is irrelevant... Trinidadian opinions are irrelevant .... if you like to pursue irrelevancies... knock yourself out.... it's your inalienable right.

[HL]

Me too.

Would be nice watching you cheer for the USA.

[Naminirt]

maybe you should ask the person who made the statement.

ha ha yuh know him talking trash eh