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EAGER TO deliver in front their home crowd, Jamaica lead a contented foursome into the Digicel Caribbean Championship semi-finals showdown in a doubleheader at the National Stadium this evening.
The Reggae Boyz will tackle Guadeloupe in the feature match at 7 p.m., following the opening match-up between Cuba and surprise qualifiers Grenada, at 5 p.m.
At a press conference at the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) headquarters involving representatives from all four nations yesterday, all stated their joy at having already qualified for next year's CONCACAF Gold Cup, noting it was a primary target.
Jamaica, with two wins and a draw, topped Group A and remain the only unbeaten team among the final four.
Guadeloupe ended their schedule with four points from a win, one draw and a loss.
Cuba topped Group B after opening with two wins, before losing their final game to Haiti while Grenada shocked Trinidad and Tobago 2-1 and hammered Barbados 4-2, losing once when blanked 4-0 by the Boyz.
Unbeaten status
Besides their unbeaten status, the quality play and team composition contributes to the favourite's tag pinned on the hosts. However, coach John Barnes says there's no room for complacency.
"We won't be taking them (Guadeloupe) lightly at all. We have to respect them, we have to respect their quality," said Barnes. "Against Cuba they showed that they are a good ball-playing side, so it will be a difficult match. But if we play as well as we can, then we should win."
The Jamaica-born Barnes, who represented England at two World Cups, said: "We have to recognise that we have a difficult test against Guadeloupe but ... I feel confident that we can win it. It's not a foregone conclusion so we have to approach it in the right manner."
Nursing injuries
Top striker Luton Shelton and midfielders Demar Phillips and Wolry Wolfe are nursing injuries but Barnes said he has "full faith in the squad" - his other options, should any fail to make the line-up.
The pacy Shelton has scored in two matches, along with full back Eric Vernan, who looks capable of taking the right-back slot, which is up for grabs. Both are scoring options along with Omar Cummings, Dane Richards and midfielders Andy Williams and Rodolph Austin.
The captain and real big man in the team, Tyrone Marshall, leads a decent backline and he too, despite their obvious strength, expects a hard grind, but looks forward to winning the championship.
"It's going to be a tough game. Our ultimate goal is to win. Come Sunday we want to step out there and lift the trophy. All the teams want to do that as well, but we want to win this tournament," Marshall said.
"We know we had a letdown in the World Cup. We hope to win this tournament, we want to bring back some pride to the programme and to the country," added Marshall.
Major flaw
Guadeloupe earned their place with a gritty 2-2 draw with Antigua/Barbuda in their final group game to end equal with four points, but emerged with a better goal difference.
Their major flaw has been a bad concessionary rate of five in three matches.
"We have conceded a lot of goals, which is unusual. We plan to do some things against Jamaica to change that - which we won't say, obviously," noted their technical director, Franck Louis.
"Tomorrow is going to be a very important game, especially against Jamaica who are hosting the competition. Hopefully we can move on," Louis said.
Mickael Antoine Curier, Gregory Gendrey, Livio Nabab, Mickael Nicoise and Jean Luc Lamboude have scored for the free-spirited Guadeloupe team, which beat Jamaica in a penalty shootout in the championship game of the 1993 Finals (then Shell Caribbean Cup) at the National Stadium.
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/glean...s/sports1.html
The Reggae Boyz will tackle Guadeloupe in the feature match at 7 p.m., following the opening match-up between Cuba and surprise qualifiers Grenada, at 5 p.m.
At a press conference at the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) headquarters involving representatives from all four nations yesterday, all stated their joy at having already qualified for next year's CONCACAF Gold Cup, noting it was a primary target.
Jamaica, with two wins and a draw, topped Group A and remain the only unbeaten team among the final four.
Guadeloupe ended their schedule with four points from a win, one draw and a loss.
Cuba topped Group B after opening with two wins, before losing their final game to Haiti while Grenada shocked Trinidad and Tobago 2-1 and hammered Barbados 4-2, losing once when blanked 4-0 by the Boyz.
Unbeaten status
Besides their unbeaten status, the quality play and team composition contributes to the favourite's tag pinned on the hosts. However, coach John Barnes says there's no room for complacency.
"We won't be taking them (Guadeloupe) lightly at all. We have to respect them, we have to respect their quality," said Barnes. "Against Cuba they showed that they are a good ball-playing side, so it will be a difficult match. But if we play as well as we can, then we should win."
The Jamaica-born Barnes, who represented England at two World Cups, said: "We have to recognise that we have a difficult test against Guadeloupe but ... I feel confident that we can win it. It's not a foregone conclusion so we have to approach it in the right manner."
Nursing injuries
Top striker Luton Shelton and midfielders Demar Phillips and Wolry Wolfe are nursing injuries but Barnes said he has "full faith in the squad" - his other options, should any fail to make the line-up.
The pacy Shelton has scored in two matches, along with full back Eric Vernan, who looks capable of taking the right-back slot, which is up for grabs. Both are scoring options along with Omar Cummings, Dane Richards and midfielders Andy Williams and Rodolph Austin.
The captain and real big man in the team, Tyrone Marshall, leads a decent backline and he too, despite their obvious strength, expects a hard grind, but looks forward to winning the championship.
"It's going to be a tough game. Our ultimate goal is to win. Come Sunday we want to step out there and lift the trophy. All the teams want to do that as well, but we want to win this tournament," Marshall said.
"We know we had a letdown in the World Cup. We hope to win this tournament, we want to bring back some pride to the programme and to the country," added Marshall.
Major flaw
Guadeloupe earned their place with a gritty 2-2 draw with Antigua/Barbuda in their final group game to end equal with four points, but emerged with a better goal difference.
Their major flaw has been a bad concessionary rate of five in three matches.
"We have conceded a lot of goals, which is unusual. We plan to do some things against Jamaica to change that - which we won't say, obviously," noted their technical director, Franck Louis.
"Tomorrow is going to be a very important game, especially against Jamaica who are hosting the competition. Hopefully we can move on," Louis said.
Mickael Antoine Curier, Gregory Gendrey, Livio Nabab, Mickael Nicoise and Jean Luc Lamboude have scored for the free-spirited Guadeloupe team, which beat Jamaica in a penalty shootout in the championship game of the 1993 Finals (then Shell Caribbean Cup) at the National Stadium.
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/glean...s/sports1.html
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