BOYZ CRUMBLED
U-20 coach says team undone by big stage
By Howard Walker Observer staff reporter walker@jamaicaobserver.com
Thursday, March 12, 2009
AS the post mortem continued on Jamaica's Under-20 footballers' demise during the CONCACAF qualifying final round held in Tobago and Tobago, head coach Donovan Duckie cited a lack of effort by the players.
"I cannot say that the players gave 100 per cent, but I thought they tried. I don't think the effort was good enough," Duckie told the Observer on the trip back home from the twin-island republic yesterday.
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National Under-20 captain, Andre Darby, leads the pack ahead of coach Donovan Duckie as the young Reggae Boyz retured home yesterday at the Norman Manley International Airport. (Photo: Howard Walker)
"I realised that from the moment we arrived, the team has not been the same. I thought the stage got the better of them. Some of the senior players did not play up to expectations and we were let down by that," he noted.
Jamaica started the final day in second spot and needed a win or a draw to advance to the FIFA Under-20 World Cup set for Egypt in September, but crashed to a pathetic 0-4 defeat to Honduras and saw their dreams shattered.
The USA topped Group A with seven points, followed by Honduras on five, Jamaica three and El Salvador, one.
The Young Reggae Boyz became another statistic of failing to secure a World Cup spot since 2001, when the Under-20s qualified for the tournament in Argentina.
This team was the last chance the Horace Burrell-led Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) had of salvaging some pride and qualifying a national team for a World Cup Final since returning to office in November 2007.
Duckie, who has been in charge of this crop of youngsters for 11 months, had some advice for the JFF.
"I think that in the future the JFF has to expose the team to better opponents like the Toulon Tournament (in France) and other big CONCACAF tournaments.
"Playing against our Caribbean neighbours will not help. We have to get sponsorship to send our teams to France, Italy or Germany where the quality tournaments are.
"Looking back at the previous groups in Cayman, Aruba and St Vincent that we were in, this was a much higher stage. These teams are way above the teams we're used to," Duckie said with a concerned look on his face.
"They have done a wonderful job, especially in the latter stages where they got the practice games for us, which was good. The effort by the administration staff was good also, it was a good team effort.
"Praises can't be too high for Horace Reid who came in and assisted tremendously with the team," Duckie noted.
Jamaica, having lost the first encounter 0-3 to USA, bounced back against El Salvador, winning with nine men, and hopes were high of the team clinching a spot.
But after holding their own for 43 minutes, the young Reggae Boyz crumbled, not because Honduras were playing well, but due to anxiety, as they began pressing high and left a lot of space at the back too soon in the game - as they did against the USA when they fell behind and went for broke too soon.
"I thought we could have showed more patience, but these are youth players and maneuvering certain situations, they were not experienced enough.
"This is the first time we have been in these situations throughout our campaign. This is the third time in 17 games that we had to chase. It was unusual for the team and they responded poorly," said Duckie.
But at what stage do you play for pride? the Observer inquired after seeing the team losing 0-3 and 0-4.
"We wanted a result and if we lost four, five or six, it wouldn't have mattered. We had to take risks. A result was a must for us, whether a draw or a win. But I thought we could have been more patient," Duckie reiterated.
"I'm very disappointed to know that we have come this far and it came down to 90 minutes. It is a painful feeling for the guys. I thought they did a wonderful job in getting here.
"Their efforts were good but not good enough for this last game. It's a learning experience for them and I'm a young coach and in different points in our lives it will help," Duckie said.
U-20 coach says team undone by big stage
By Howard Walker Observer staff reporter walker@jamaicaobserver.com
Thursday, March 12, 2009
AS the post mortem continued on Jamaica's Under-20 footballers' demise during the CONCACAF qualifying final round held in Tobago and Tobago, head coach Donovan Duckie cited a lack of effort by the players.
"I cannot say that the players gave 100 per cent, but I thought they tried. I don't think the effort was good enough," Duckie told the Observer on the trip back home from the twin-island republic yesterday.

National Under-20 captain, Andre Darby, leads the pack ahead of coach Donovan Duckie as the young Reggae Boyz retured home yesterday at the Norman Manley International Airport. (Photo: Howard Walker)
"I realised that from the moment we arrived, the team has not been the same. I thought the stage got the better of them. Some of the senior players did not play up to expectations and we were let down by that," he noted.
Jamaica started the final day in second spot and needed a win or a draw to advance to the FIFA Under-20 World Cup set for Egypt in September, but crashed to a pathetic 0-4 defeat to Honduras and saw their dreams shattered.
The USA topped Group A with seven points, followed by Honduras on five, Jamaica three and El Salvador, one.
The Young Reggae Boyz became another statistic of failing to secure a World Cup spot since 2001, when the Under-20s qualified for the tournament in Argentina.
This team was the last chance the Horace Burrell-led Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) had of salvaging some pride and qualifying a national team for a World Cup Final since returning to office in November 2007.
Duckie, who has been in charge of this crop of youngsters for 11 months, had some advice for the JFF.
"I think that in the future the JFF has to expose the team to better opponents like the Toulon Tournament (in France) and other big CONCACAF tournaments.
"Playing against our Caribbean neighbours will not help. We have to get sponsorship to send our teams to France, Italy or Germany where the quality tournaments are.
"Looking back at the previous groups in Cayman, Aruba and St Vincent that we were in, this was a much higher stage. These teams are way above the teams we're used to," Duckie said with a concerned look on his face.
"They have done a wonderful job, especially in the latter stages where they got the practice games for us, which was good. The effort by the administration staff was good also, it was a good team effort.
"Praises can't be too high for Horace Reid who came in and assisted tremendously with the team," Duckie noted.
Jamaica, having lost the first encounter 0-3 to USA, bounced back against El Salvador, winning with nine men, and hopes were high of the team clinching a spot.
But after holding their own for 43 minutes, the young Reggae Boyz crumbled, not because Honduras were playing well, but due to anxiety, as they began pressing high and left a lot of space at the back too soon in the game - as they did against the USA when they fell behind and went for broke too soon.
"I thought we could have showed more patience, but these are youth players and maneuvering certain situations, they were not experienced enough.
"This is the first time we have been in these situations throughout our campaign. This is the third time in 17 games that we had to chase. It was unusual for the team and they responded poorly," said Duckie.
But at what stage do you play for pride? the Observer inquired after seeing the team losing 0-3 and 0-4.
"We wanted a result and if we lost four, five or six, it wouldn't have mattered. We had to take risks. A result was a must for us, whether a draw or a win. But I thought we could have been more patient," Duckie reiterated.
"I'm very disappointed to know that we have come this far and it came down to 90 minutes. It is a painful feeling for the guys. I thought they did a wonderful job in getting here.
"Their efforts were good but not good enough for this last game. It's a learning experience for them and I'm a young coach and in different points in our lives it will help," Duckie said.
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