Tweet
Pleasing dilemma for 'Tappa'
Reggae reserves dazzle in 1-0 Gold Cup display
IAN BURNETT @ THE CONCACAF GOLD CUP in the USA
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
NEW JERSEY, USA — 'Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it,' is a popular phrase which has now grabbed the attention of Jamaica's senior football team head coach Theodore Whitmore.
The former Reggae Boyz star player injected six new faces into his starting team for Monday's Group B decider against Honduras at the Red Bull Arena, hoping that his substitutes would give a good account of themselves, while his starters get a well-deserved rest.
NEW JERSEY, USA — Ryan Johnson is surrounded by Jamaican players after scoring against Honduras in a CONCACAF Gold Cup match on Monday night at the Red Bull Arena. The Reggae Boyz won the game, 1-0. (Photo: AFP)
NEW JERSEY, USA — Ryan Johnson is surrounded by Jamaican players after scoring against Honduras in a CONCACAF Gold Cup match on Monday night at the Red Bull Arena. The Reggae Boyz won the game, 1-0. (Photo: AFP)
However, it appeared the 'so-called' substitutes didn't read the script, as they produced an immaculate first-half display on their way to a 1-0 victory to claim Group B honours.
Now Whitmore and his coaching staff could have serious difficulties selecting the starting team for Sunday's quarter-final game at the RFK Stadium in Washington DC at 3:00 pm (2:00 pm Jamaica time).
"I thought tonight's (Monday night's) game was a hard-fought encounter. The Hondurans played well as we expected; a very strong team, but I think overall it was a strong performance.
"We brought in a number of players and they really turned up and it's very nice to see us coming out victorious," Whitmore, the two-goal hero at the 1998 FIFA World Cup Finals in France, told the media at a post-game press conference.
He added: "The players really played their hearts out tonight and it was something we wanted, to give the coaching staff something to think about going into the quarter-final, but this is now water under the bridge and we are looking forward to the next game."
The victory left the Boyz atop the points standing in group play with maximum nine points, five ahead of Honduras and Guatemala, while Grenada, who were beaten 4-0 in the first game of the double-header against Guatemala, finished pointless.
Honduras claimed second place based on superior goal difference — +5 to Guatemala's + 2.
In one of the Reggae Boyz's best first-half displays in many years, Ryan Johnson was the man on target in the 36th minute. It was Johnson's second goal of the tournament, though he later missed a penalty, but it was the first time that the Boyz were recording three wins in the group phase of the tournament, and their goal tally of seven equalled their best ever output in 2005.
Jamaica's opponent in the quarter-final will be the runners-up of Group C.
That group was slated to be decided last night when USA played Guadeloupe and Panama opposed Canada. Panama led the group with six points, three ahead of USA and Canada, with Guadeloupe at the bottom without a point.
Whitmore wasn't overly concerned if the hosts ended up second and come face-to-face with his team on Sunday, despite the fact that the Boyz have never beaten their North American adversary.
"If it is the US it will be a tough encounter, but as I have said we are here to get to at least the semi-final. We didn't come here expecting to play any easy games, so every game we treat it as a final."
The Boyz are playing with extreme confidence just now, having been the only team yet to concede a goal, and just one of two teams (with Mexico) to remain unbeaten, and Whitmore is well aware of this.
"We have made a lot of progress, we have a set of players we have been working with for a while, it is a good bunch, disciplined. I think what we brought to this tournament is the ball possession, because we tended to give away the ball a lot, now we can see a difference in our ball possession.
"The last tournament we went out in the first round and now we are in the quarter-finals, so I think the future is bright for the Jamaica national team."
Though the Boyz set a very high standard in the first half, they fell away towards the latter part of the second half, but the coaching staff is not overly bothered.
Whitmore explained that the six new faces in the starting team were short of match fitness and the longer the game went on the more fatigued they became, which forced him to inject "fresh legs" late on.
"Well as we expected we have a number of players whose match fitness is down. This was their first game in the tournament and the longer the game went the more they tired, so that's when we started to pull out players and inject fresher legs.
"We have been working with these players for over a year-and-a-half now getting quality practice games, and we just had a recent training camp in Brazil for nine days and that did wonders for us as well," Whitmore reiterated.
Meanwhile, the Boyz had an easy day yesterday, but regrouped in late afternoon for a team meeting and a recovery session in the swimming pool.
They are scheduled to return to the field this morning at 9:00 (8:00 am Jamaica time). However, according to team administrator Howard McIntosh, up to 6:30 pm (5:30 pm Jamaica time) yesterday, the Jamaican delegation had "not been formally advised by CONCACAF of our hotel in or travel arrangements to Washington DC", though the fixtures have long been established, and hotel bookings would have been made.
The delegation is expected to depart its Sheraton Lincoln Harbor Hotel today, but it is not sure if it does so by air or by road, which also impacts on the team's programme heading into the next game.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport...#ixzz1PLSJh9nO
Reggae reserves dazzle in 1-0 Gold Cup display
IAN BURNETT @ THE CONCACAF GOLD CUP in the USA
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
NEW JERSEY, USA — 'Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it,' is a popular phrase which has now grabbed the attention of Jamaica's senior football team head coach Theodore Whitmore.
The former Reggae Boyz star player injected six new faces into his starting team for Monday's Group B decider against Honduras at the Red Bull Arena, hoping that his substitutes would give a good account of themselves, while his starters get a well-deserved rest.
NEW JERSEY, USA — Ryan Johnson is surrounded by Jamaican players after scoring against Honduras in a CONCACAF Gold Cup match on Monday night at the Red Bull Arena. The Reggae Boyz won the game, 1-0. (Photo: AFP)
NEW JERSEY, USA — Ryan Johnson is surrounded by Jamaican players after scoring against Honduras in a CONCACAF Gold Cup match on Monday night at the Red Bull Arena. The Reggae Boyz won the game, 1-0. (Photo: AFP)
However, it appeared the 'so-called' substitutes didn't read the script, as they produced an immaculate first-half display on their way to a 1-0 victory to claim Group B honours.
Now Whitmore and his coaching staff could have serious difficulties selecting the starting team for Sunday's quarter-final game at the RFK Stadium in Washington DC at 3:00 pm (2:00 pm Jamaica time).
"I thought tonight's (Monday night's) game was a hard-fought encounter. The Hondurans played well as we expected; a very strong team, but I think overall it was a strong performance.
"We brought in a number of players and they really turned up and it's very nice to see us coming out victorious," Whitmore, the two-goal hero at the 1998 FIFA World Cup Finals in France, told the media at a post-game press conference.
He added: "The players really played their hearts out tonight and it was something we wanted, to give the coaching staff something to think about going into the quarter-final, but this is now water under the bridge and we are looking forward to the next game."
The victory left the Boyz atop the points standing in group play with maximum nine points, five ahead of Honduras and Guatemala, while Grenada, who were beaten 4-0 in the first game of the double-header against Guatemala, finished pointless.
Honduras claimed second place based on superior goal difference — +5 to Guatemala's + 2.
In one of the Reggae Boyz's best first-half displays in many years, Ryan Johnson was the man on target in the 36th minute. It was Johnson's second goal of the tournament, though he later missed a penalty, but it was the first time that the Boyz were recording three wins in the group phase of the tournament, and their goal tally of seven equalled their best ever output in 2005.
Jamaica's opponent in the quarter-final will be the runners-up of Group C.
That group was slated to be decided last night when USA played Guadeloupe and Panama opposed Canada. Panama led the group with six points, three ahead of USA and Canada, with Guadeloupe at the bottom without a point.
Whitmore wasn't overly concerned if the hosts ended up second and come face-to-face with his team on Sunday, despite the fact that the Boyz have never beaten their North American adversary.
"If it is the US it will be a tough encounter, but as I have said we are here to get to at least the semi-final. We didn't come here expecting to play any easy games, so every game we treat it as a final."
The Boyz are playing with extreme confidence just now, having been the only team yet to concede a goal, and just one of two teams (with Mexico) to remain unbeaten, and Whitmore is well aware of this.
"We have made a lot of progress, we have a set of players we have been working with for a while, it is a good bunch, disciplined. I think what we brought to this tournament is the ball possession, because we tended to give away the ball a lot, now we can see a difference in our ball possession.
"The last tournament we went out in the first round and now we are in the quarter-finals, so I think the future is bright for the Jamaica national team."
Though the Boyz set a very high standard in the first half, they fell away towards the latter part of the second half, but the coaching staff is not overly bothered.
Whitmore explained that the six new faces in the starting team were short of match fitness and the longer the game went on the more fatigued they became, which forced him to inject "fresh legs" late on.
"Well as we expected we have a number of players whose match fitness is down. This was their first game in the tournament and the longer the game went the more they tired, so that's when we started to pull out players and inject fresher legs.
"We have been working with these players for over a year-and-a-half now getting quality practice games, and we just had a recent training camp in Brazil for nine days and that did wonders for us as well," Whitmore reiterated.
Meanwhile, the Boyz had an easy day yesterday, but regrouped in late afternoon for a team meeting and a recovery session in the swimming pool.
They are scheduled to return to the field this morning at 9:00 (8:00 am Jamaica time). However, according to team administrator Howard McIntosh, up to 6:30 pm (5:30 pm Jamaica time) yesterday, the Jamaican delegation had "not been formally advised by CONCACAF of our hotel in or travel arrangements to Washington DC", though the fixtures have long been established, and hotel bookings would have been made.
The delegation is expected to depart its Sheraton Lincoln Harbor Hotel today, but it is not sure if it does so by air or by road, which also impacts on the team's programme heading into the next game.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport...#ixzz1PLSJh9nO
Comment