Tweet
Those 'skillful' footballers <DIV class=KonaBody>
A FEW years ago a former national coach of local origin found himself in a real hornet's nest when he criticised several leading players for their lack of various footballing skills.
He said then that they could not head, kick or pass the ball properly.
Many local coaches, and some commentators, have been using the word 'skillful' in a loose way for a very long time. To differentiate Jamaican players from Americans and Canadians for example you often hear coaches saying that Jamaican players are more skillful. Such a player may not be able to kick the ball properly, head the ball well or control the ball, yet he or she is described as 'skillful' because he may be able to beat an opponent one-on-one five times out of ten.
Beating an opponent one-on-one easily is just one of the many skills a good footballer may possess. Many excellent current and past international footballers, Germany's Michael Ballack, Frenchman Claude Makelele, the current Brazilian coach Dunga, to name just three, are not good one-on-one players.
Jamaican players, to my mind, have never been more than any of the other major football nations around the Caribbean. In fact Rene Simoes, the Brazilian who led Jamaica's historic qualification for the 1998 World Cup in <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: blue! important; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">France</SPAN> said the Haitians were the most naturally gifted footballers he had seen in the Caribbean.
As one who has seen all of the good Jamaican footballers over the past 20 years only two, based on the local definition of skillful, would stand out. The best in this regard would likely be Walter Boyd but the most successful is undoubtedly former national midfielder Theodore Whitmore who notched two goals in Jamaica's 2-1 win over Japan in France.
The above brings us to the recently concluded Gold Cup campaign by <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: blue! important; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">Jamaica's</SPAN> Reggae Girls. I have watched women's football for some time and know that the United States, Germany, Norway, China, Brazil, <A class=kLink oncontextmenu="return false;" id=KonaLink2 style="POSITION: static; TEXT-DECORATION: underline! important" href="http://www.jamaica-star.com/thestar/20061129/sports/sports2.html#" target=_top onmouseout="adlinkMouseOut(event,this,2);" onclick="adlinkMouseClick(event,this,2);" onmouseover="adlinkMouseOver(event,this,2);"> <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: blue! importa
A FEW years ago a former national coach of local origin found himself in a real hornet's nest when he criticised several leading players for their lack of various footballing skills.
He said then that they could not head, kick or pass the ball properly.
Many local coaches, and some commentators, have been using the word 'skillful' in a loose way for a very long time. To differentiate Jamaican players from Americans and Canadians for example you often hear coaches saying that Jamaican players are more skillful. Such a player may not be able to kick the ball properly, head the ball well or control the ball, yet he or she is described as 'skillful' because he may be able to beat an opponent one-on-one five times out of ten.
Beating an opponent one-on-one easily is just one of the many skills a good footballer may possess. Many excellent current and past international footballers, Germany's Michael Ballack, Frenchman Claude Makelele, the current Brazilian coach Dunga, to name just three, are not good one-on-one players.
Jamaican players, to my mind, have never been more than any of the other major football nations around the Caribbean. In fact Rene Simoes, the Brazilian who led Jamaica's historic qualification for the 1998 World Cup in <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: blue! important; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">France</SPAN> said the Haitians were the most naturally gifted footballers he had seen in the Caribbean.
As one who has seen all of the good Jamaican footballers over the past 20 years only two, based on the local definition of skillful, would stand out. The best in this regard would likely be Walter Boyd but the most successful is undoubtedly former national midfielder Theodore Whitmore who notched two goals in Jamaica's 2-1 win over Japan in France.
The above brings us to the recently concluded Gold Cup campaign by <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: blue! important; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">Jamaica's</SPAN> Reggae Girls. I have watched women's football for some time and know that the United States, Germany, Norway, China, Brazil, <A class=kLink oncontextmenu="return false;" id=KonaLink2 style="POSITION: static; TEXT-DECORATION: underline! important" href="http://www.jamaica-star.com/thestar/20061129/sports/sports2.html#" target=_top onmouseout="adlinkMouseOut(event,this,2);" onclick="adlinkMouseClick(event,this,2);" onmouseover="adlinkMouseOver(event,this,2);"> <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: blue! importa
For the benefit of those who came in late, here is a link to the said article:
Comment