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All eyes on Jamaica vs Mexico
TOMORROW AFTERNOON the country with the best team in CONCACAF, Mexico, will fly into Jamaica.
They are coming here to face the Reggae Boyz on Saturday in Jamaica's most crucial football encounter in a long time.
The immediate future of the country's football will be on the line. Defeat will surely mean that the Reggae Boyz will have lost all chance of getting to next year's lucrative CONCACAF final round where teams get five high-quality games at home. Games in which they can potentially make millions of dollars which can help in the development of the sport.
One point
Going into Saturday's all-important Group B semi-final clash, the Reggae Boyz have just a point after three matches. That's same as Canada, but eight less than group leaders Mexico and five behind second-place Honduras. A loss for Jamaica would mean qualification for Mexico and if Honduras avoid defeat against Canada they will surely accompany the Mexicans to the 2009 final round. Only the top two teams advance to the final round.
A win, so soon after the grand celebrations to mark Jamaica's glorious performances at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, would be very good. But it will be really asking a lot of the inexperienced interim coach Theodore Whitmore, the man who led Jamaica to victory against Japan at the World Cup finals of 1998 with two sparkling goals.
Whitmore will be going up against a wily and experienced Mexican manager who has accomplished a great deal at the highest levels. Sven-Goran Eriksson, a 60-year-old Swede, won two Series A titles with Lazio in Italy's tough top league before moving to England where he helped that country to qualify for the 2002 and 2006 World Cups and the 2004 European Championships.
Eriksson knows a thing or two about Jamaica. On his way to the 2006 World Cup an England squad managed by him drubbed Jamaica 6-0. This is in addition to leading Mexico to a 3-0 victory over the Boyz inside the Azteca on September 6.
Tactically, I do not expect Whitmore to outwit Eriksson. It means Jamaica's Boyz must play at their very best to get the better of the Mexicans. The hope is that Whitmore will name a team and adopt a formation which will have the Mexicans on the defensive from early.
Captain Ricardo Gardner must be given an attacking role on the left side of midfield so that he can get in as many crosses as possible to worry the Mexican defence. While I do not see them playing for a draw, I expect the Mexicans to take some time to settle on a National Stadium field which is smaller than most of their players are used to.
One person who will be watching Saturday's game with a high degree of interest is the Jamaican-born former England winger John Barnes.
New director
Barnes has been named as the new technical director following the sacking of Rene Simoes after the loss to Honduras on September 10. He is due to take charge of the squad on November 1 on a one-year contract, but I am still to be convinced that this will happen if the Boyz fail to advance to the next round.
I cannot see the wisdom of hiring Barnes if Jamaica will not be engaged in World Cup qualifying matches next year. Why hire such a high-profile person in charge of the Boyz for a low-level tournament like the Caribbean Cup? I think the Caribbean Cup finals, to be played here in early December, give the JFF a grand chance to have a local man in total control. If not Whitmore, maybe Wendell Downswell, a coach who is familiar with the mainly local players who will be in action.
They are coming here to face the Reggae Boyz on Saturday in Jamaica's most crucial football encounter in a long time.
The immediate future of the country's football will be on the line. Defeat will surely mean that the Reggae Boyz will have lost all chance of getting to next year's lucrative CONCACAF final round where teams get five high-quality games at home. Games in which they can potentially make millions of dollars which can help in the development of the sport.
One point
Going into Saturday's all-important Group B semi-final clash, the Reggae Boyz have just a point after three matches. That's same as Canada, but eight less than group leaders Mexico and five behind second-place Honduras. A loss for Jamaica would mean qualification for Mexico and if Honduras avoid defeat against Canada they will surely accompany the Mexicans to the 2009 final round. Only the top two teams advance to the final round.
A win, so soon after the grand celebrations to mark Jamaica's glorious performances at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, would be very good. But it will be really asking a lot of the inexperienced interim coach Theodore Whitmore, the man who led Jamaica to victory against Japan at the World Cup finals of 1998 with two sparkling goals.
Whitmore will be going up against a wily and experienced Mexican manager who has accomplished a great deal at the highest levels. Sven-Goran Eriksson, a 60-year-old Swede, won two Series A titles with Lazio in Italy's tough top league before moving to England where he helped that country to qualify for the 2002 and 2006 World Cups and the 2004 European Championships.
Eriksson knows a thing or two about Jamaica. On his way to the 2006 World Cup an England squad managed by him drubbed Jamaica 6-0. This is in addition to leading Mexico to a 3-0 victory over the Boyz inside the Azteca on September 6.
Tactically, I do not expect Whitmore to outwit Eriksson. It means Jamaica's Boyz must play at their very best to get the better of the Mexicans. The hope is that Whitmore will name a team and adopt a formation which will have the Mexicans on the defensive from early.
Captain Ricardo Gardner must be given an attacking role on the left side of midfield so that he can get in as many crosses as possible to worry the Mexican defence. While I do not see them playing for a draw, I expect the Mexicans to take some time to settle on a National Stadium field which is smaller than most of their players are used to.
One person who will be watching Saturday's game with a high degree of interest is the Jamaican-born former England winger John Barnes.
New director
Barnes has been named as the new technical director following the sacking of Rene Simoes after the loss to Honduras on September 10. He is due to take charge of the squad on November 1 on a one-year contract, but I am still to be convinced that this will happen if the Boyz fail to advance to the next round.
I cannot see the wisdom of hiring Barnes if Jamaica will not be engaged in World Cup qualifying matches next year. Why hire such a high-profile person in charge of the Boyz for a low-level tournament like the Caribbean Cup? I think the Caribbean Cup finals, to be played here in early December, give the JFF a grand chance to have a local man in total control. If not Whitmore, maybe Wendell Downswell, a coach who is familiar with the mainly local players who will be in action.