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Win or go home!
Published: Friday | July 10, 2009
Audley Boyd, Assistant Editor - Sports
Omar Cummings
MIAMI, Florida:
MUST WIN. It's a simple as that. In just a matter of months, Jamaica's Reggae Boyz are being confronted with elimination despite showing superior form in a major football championship, knowing they shall have to take all three points in a last-gasp effort.
In November, it was Canada in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying at the National Stadium in Kingston. The Boyz responded with a 3-0 margin, but found themselves wanting when it came down to a goal difference match-up with Mexico and lost their place in the race.
Tonight, it'll be déjà vu at the Florida International University
. With their hopes hanging by a thread, the Reggae Boyz will tackle El Salvador in the final preliminary Group A match at 9 p.m. (8 p.m. Jamaica time), fully aware that only victory will extend their stay in the 10th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Canada and Costa Rica will meet in the opening game at 7 p.m. (6 p.m. Jamaica time).
Opportunities
"It's a must-win situation," noted Theodore Whitmore, Jamaica's head coach. "It's very unfortunate, we're not playing all that bad and we're not playing 100 per cent, but we're still creating goalscoring opportunities better than our opponents but we're just failing to get the ball in the back of the net.
"I only hope tomorrow's game will be somewhat different in that all of those chances that we missed during the Canada and the Costa Rica games, we can put them away tomorrow," added Whitmore, pointing to the games they dominated without making their superiority count on the scorecards. "We're playing good, but good is not enough. We just need to get the ball in the back of the net and that's where most of our focus is now."
That focus has been sharpened in light of consecutive losses in the previous Gold Cup games against Canada and Costa Rica, by 1-0 margins.
It has left the team at the foot of the four-team group standings without a point. Canada, with six points, lead the group while Costa Rica and El Salvador, with an identical 2-2 scoring record (0 goal differential), are tied for second with three points.
There are three groups with four teams each and the top two countries from each zone are guaranteed a spot in the quarter-finals, that will include eight teams. The other two spots will go to the two top third-place teams.
A win over El Salvador would lift Jamaica to three points which automatically places the Boyz in contention for a third-place spot.
Ideally, the perfect equation for the Reggae Boyz would be victory by two goals or more against El Salvador, combined with a Canadian victory over Costa Rica.
Winning margin
Jamaica now have an inferior goal difference, but a winning margin of at least two goals would lift them clear of El Salvador, who have scored more goals.
If Jamaica win by one goal they would end with a goal difference equivalent (-1) to the Salvadorans, who have scored more goals.
The team went through some extensive scoring drills in training sessions on Wednesday when it arrived from Columbus, Ohio, and yesterday evening as well and a fair amount of sharpness was evident.
What also appeared clear were changes Whitmore said he would apply to the starting team, given the combinations utilised during the sessions.
Ricketts will maintain his place between the sticks, as well as Claude Davis and Damion Stewart at the back.
Shavar Thomas, just included in the squad, will walk straight into the team as sweeper and Tyrone Marshall looks set to be pushed into the central midfield slot, following the ineligibility of Rodolph Austin, who was red carded in Jamaica's last game.
"Shavar will definitely start tomorrow," Whitmore exclaimed. "That will even give us depth to push someone else in attack, probably Campbell-Ryce."
Jason Morrison will regain his starting place in midfield, while Jamal Campbell-Ryce appears set to start ahead of Jermaine Johnson, who has been bogged down with defensive responsibilities in the previous matches this tournament.
Johnson ripped El Salvador, ranked 90th, to pieces in a 0-0 draw in a friendly international in Washington DC on May 28, but Whitmore says he will use him off the bench
and give him a free run in attack against the Salvadorans.
Ricardo Fuller, Luton Shelton and Omar Cummings headline the attack looking to make a better result than they had the last time in this match-up.
However, the Jamaica coach is not feeding too much into past results.
"Friendlies are different from a tournament. We played the Canada team in a World Cup qualifier the other day in which we outplayed them, we outscored them, but this is a total different ballgame and as I said before it's not who deserves it, it's who takes it so we just have to go our there tomorrow and stick the ball in the back of the net," he said yesterday while referring to the 3-0 World Cup qualifying win over Canada in November and the drawn practice match against El Salvador.
Commenting on the vibe within the team, Whitmore said: "From day one, if you look on the players everyone is upbeat about the tournament and everyone is pushing out the effort, but (there is) nothing we can do but put the ball in the back of the net.
"I only hope that can happen come tomorrow ... that's what we're focusing on. In yesterday's training session we did a bit of scoring, I hope we can score two or three goals tomorrow."
Based on the training formations, it appears that Damion Stewart will be left out and Shavar Thomas, Tyrone Marshall and Claude Davis will be in the back line, with Jason Morrison at central midfield, Jamal Campbell-Ryce on the right, Demar Phillips (left) and Ricardo Gardner (top) midfield, with Ricardo Fuller, Luton Shelton and Omar Cummings starting upfront.
GOLD CUP GROUP A
G W D L GF GA Pts
Canada 2 2 0 0 2 0 6
El Salvador 2 1 0 1 2 2 3
Costa Rica 2 1 0 1 2 2 3
Jamaica 2 0 0 2 0 2 0
Published: Friday | July 10, 2009
Audley Boyd, Assistant Editor - Sports
Omar Cummings
MIAMI, Florida:
MUST WIN. It's a simple as that. In just a matter of months, Jamaica's Reggae Boyz are being confronted with elimination despite showing superior form in a major football championship, knowing they shall have to take all three points in a last-gasp effort.
In November, it was Canada in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying at the National Stadium in Kingston. The Boyz responded with a 3-0 margin, but found themselves wanting when it came down to a goal difference match-up with Mexico and lost their place in the race.
Tonight, it'll be déjà vu at the Florida International University
. With their hopes hanging by a thread, the Reggae Boyz will tackle El Salvador in the final preliminary Group A match at 9 p.m. (8 p.m. Jamaica time), fully aware that only victory will extend their stay in the 10th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Canada and Costa Rica will meet in the opening game at 7 p.m. (6 p.m. Jamaica time).
Opportunities
"It's a must-win situation," noted Theodore Whitmore, Jamaica's head coach. "It's very unfortunate, we're not playing all that bad and we're not playing 100 per cent, but we're still creating goalscoring opportunities better than our opponents but we're just failing to get the ball in the back of the net.
"I only hope tomorrow's game will be somewhat different in that all of those chances that we missed during the Canada and the Costa Rica games, we can put them away tomorrow," added Whitmore, pointing to the games they dominated without making their superiority count on the scorecards. "We're playing good, but good is not enough. We just need to get the ball in the back of the net and that's where most of our focus is now."
That focus has been sharpened in light of consecutive losses in the previous Gold Cup games against Canada and Costa Rica, by 1-0 margins.
It has left the team at the foot of the four-team group standings without a point. Canada, with six points, lead the group while Costa Rica and El Salvador, with an identical 2-2 scoring record (0 goal differential), are tied for second with three points.
There are three groups with four teams each and the top two countries from each zone are guaranteed a spot in the quarter-finals, that will include eight teams. The other two spots will go to the two top third-place teams.
A win over El Salvador would lift Jamaica to three points which automatically places the Boyz in contention for a third-place spot.
Ideally, the perfect equation for the Reggae Boyz would be victory by two goals or more against El Salvador, combined with a Canadian victory over Costa Rica.
Winning margin
Jamaica now have an inferior goal difference, but a winning margin of at least two goals would lift them clear of El Salvador, who have scored more goals.
If Jamaica win by one goal they would end with a goal difference equivalent (-1) to the Salvadorans, who have scored more goals.
The team went through some extensive scoring drills in training sessions on Wednesday when it arrived from Columbus, Ohio, and yesterday evening as well and a fair amount of sharpness was evident.
What also appeared clear were changes Whitmore said he would apply to the starting team, given the combinations utilised during the sessions.
Ricketts will maintain his place between the sticks, as well as Claude Davis and Damion Stewart at the back.
Shavar Thomas, just included in the squad, will walk straight into the team as sweeper and Tyrone Marshall looks set to be pushed into the central midfield slot, following the ineligibility of Rodolph Austin, who was red carded in Jamaica's last game.
"Shavar will definitely start tomorrow," Whitmore exclaimed. "That will even give us depth to push someone else in attack, probably Campbell-Ryce."
Jason Morrison will regain his starting place in midfield, while Jamal Campbell-Ryce appears set to start ahead of Jermaine Johnson, who has been bogged down with defensive responsibilities in the previous matches this tournament.
Johnson ripped El Salvador, ranked 90th, to pieces in a 0-0 draw in a friendly international in Washington DC on May 28, but Whitmore says he will use him off the bench
and give him a free run in attack against the Salvadorans.
Ricardo Fuller, Luton Shelton and Omar Cummings headline the attack looking to make a better result than they had the last time in this match-up.
However, the Jamaica coach is not feeding too much into past results.
"Friendlies are different from a tournament. We played the Canada team in a World Cup qualifier the other day in which we outplayed them, we outscored them, but this is a total different ballgame and as I said before it's not who deserves it, it's who takes it so we just have to go our there tomorrow and stick the ball in the back of the net," he said yesterday while referring to the 3-0 World Cup qualifying win over Canada in November and the drawn practice match against El Salvador.
Commenting on the vibe within the team, Whitmore said: "From day one, if you look on the players everyone is upbeat about the tournament and everyone is pushing out the effort, but (there is) nothing we can do but put the ball in the back of the net.
"I only hope that can happen come tomorrow ... that's what we're focusing on. In yesterday's training session we did a bit of scoring, I hope we can score two or three goals tomorrow."
Based on the training formations, it appears that Damion Stewart will be left out and Shavar Thomas, Tyrone Marshall and Claude Davis will be in the back line, with Jason Morrison at central midfield, Jamal Campbell-Ryce on the right, Demar Phillips (left) and Ricardo Gardner (top) midfield, with Ricardo Fuller, Luton Shelton and Omar Cummings starting upfront.
GOLD CUP GROUP A
G W D L GF GA Pts
Canada 2 2 0 0 2 0 6
El Salvador 2 1 0 1 2 2 3
Costa Rica 2 1 0 1 2 2 3
Jamaica 2 0 0 2 0 2 0