Jamaica against Central American countries

[Kurttie]

For the life of me, I cannot understand why we cannot consistently beat teams like Costa Rica, Panama,Guatemala, El Salvador and the other Central American countries. Most of these countries have populations that are not that much bigger than Jamaica's and many of the darker players that represent these countries have Jamaican blood. The "African" players of these countries only make up a small to moderate portion of the population which make the pool to draw from not very large. The pool is surely less than that of what Jamaica has. I seen games in these countries while visiting and truss mi, they are no better than the quality of the NPL in Jamaica.The thing that stands out though is overall better playing fields than in Jamaica and the passion of the fans. Most matches are full or almost full to capacity. With that said, I believe Jamaica has a inferior complex when facing these teams in addition to the USA's and Mexicos of the world. It is time we step up and face these teams head on and beat them. We have the talent but must go at these teams hard. That is why I like players like Lowe and King because they are not afraid to challenge the Central Americans. Jamaica would have been in the world cup last year if we had taken the chances at the office against Panama and also in that last game against the other Central American team. Nuh even talk bout the USA "office" game. Haiti and Cuba are now stepping up to trash these Central American teams why can't we.

[Mosiah]

RE: Jamaica against Central American countries

<DIV>

Kurttie (3/26/2007)For the life of me, I cannot understand why we cannot consistently beat teams like Costa Rica, Panama,Guatemala, El Salvador and the other Central American countries. Most of these countries have populations that are not that much bigger than Jamaica's and many of the darker players that represent these countries have Jamaican blood. The "African" players of these countries only make up a small to moderate portion of the population which make the pool to draw from not very large. The pool is surely less than that of what Jamaica has. I seen games in these countries while visiting and truss mi, they are no better than the quality of the NPL in Jamaica.The thing that stands out though is overall better playing fields than in Jamaica and the passion of the fans. Most matches are full or almost full to capacity. With that said, I believe Jamaica has a inferior complex when facing these teams in addition to the USA's and Mexicos of the world. It is time we step up and face these teams head on and beat them. We have the talent but must go at these teams hard. That is why I like players like Lowe and King because they are not afraid to challenge the Central Americans. Jamaica would have been in the world cup last year if we had taken the chances at the office against Panama and also in that last game against the other Central American team. Nuh even talk bout the USA "office" game. Haiti and Cuba are now stepping up to trash these Central American teams why can't we.

</DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV>What's that African reference about? Is only Africans play football in those countries?</DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV>The difference between C. American countries and Jamaica is history, tradition,legacy, passion. Go to a game in Miami, NY, wherever between Jamaica and any one of them and we are outnumbered 5 to 1.</DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV>That passion is demonstrated not just in the stands but how they approach the game from childhood, and how their govts support it.</DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV>Btw, Lowe has "challenged" these countries by also walking off the field. </DIV>

[Hortical]

RE: Jamaica against Central American countries

Shatta why yuh change yuh handle?(N)

[Kurttie]

RE: Jamaica against Central American countries

Mosiah (3/26/2007)<DIV>

Kurttie (3/26/2007)For the life of me, I cannot understand why we cannot consistently beat teams like Costa Rica, Panama,Guatemala, El Salvador and the other Central American countries. Most of these countries have populations that are not that much bigger than Jamaica's and many of the darker players that represent these countries have Jamaican blood. The "African" players of these countries only make up a small to moderate portion of the population which make the pool to draw from not very large. The pool is surely less than that of what Jamaica has. I seen games in these countries while visiting and truss mi, they are no better than the quality of the NPL in Jamaica.The thing that stands out though is overall better playing fields than in Jamaica and the passion of the fans. Most matches are full or almost full to capacity. With that said, I believe Jamaica has a inferior complex when facing these teams in addition to the USA's and Mexicos of the world. It is time we step up and face these teams head on and beat them. We have the talent but must go at these teams hard. That is why I like players like Lowe and King because they are not afraid to challenge the Central Americans. Jamaica would have been in the world cup last year if we had taken the chances at the office against Panama and also in that last game against the other Central American team. Nuh even talk bout the USA "office" game. Haiti and Cuba are now stepping up to trash these Central American teams why can't we.

</DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV>What's that African reference about? Is only Africans play football in those countries?</DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV>The difference between C. American countries and Jamaica is history, tradition,legacy, passion. Go to a game in Miami, NY, wherever between Jamaica and any one of them and we are outnumbered 5 to 1.</DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV>That passion is demonstrated not just in the stands but how they approach the game from childhood, and how their govts support it.</DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV>Btw, Lowe has "challenged" these countries by also walking off the field. </DIV>

Just saying a large percentage of many of these teams are made up of players with Jamaican parentage who come from a small pool. Many Costa Rican players are from Limon which is distinctly Jamaican and West Indian; however, they make up a small portion (I believe the blacks in Limon count about 50,000)of the Costa Rican population. In comparison we have a much larger pool to draw from, yet still these guys beat us more times than the other way around. I believe Jamaicans are just as talented as these guys, so what is keeping us from beating these countries, many of whichhave worse infrastructure than us.

[Mosiah]

RE: Jamaica against Central American countries

I don't buy that larger pool argument at all.

[Farmah]

RE: Jamaica against Central American countries

Talent is but only one of the many requisites!

If it were talent alone there would be two African teams in the final game of many World Cups. But hard work, dedication, good training facilities, a good national program, good coaches, a viable domestic league, money, a large pool of quality players, frequent exposure/engagements in high quality games, etx. etc. etc. do play a large part in the equation.

What Bora is doing is building his pool of players. That is why he is exposing many of the untried and untested to high-quiality games now. He is looking at talent and testing them in real-game situations in order to select the true gems for his pool. Within the next 18 months, if Bora is allowed to implement his plans, we will have the machinery to beat the Central American teams on a regular basis.

[Kurttie]

RE: Jamaica against Central American countries

Farmah (3/26/2007)Talent is but only one of the many requisites!

If it were talent alone there would be two African teams in the final game of many World Cups. But hard work, dedication, good training facilities, a good national program, good coaches, a viable domestic league, money, a large pool of quality players, frequent exposure/engagements in high quality games, etx. etc. etc. do play a large part in the equation.

What Bora is doing is building his pool of players. That is why he is exposing many of the untried and untested to high-quiality games now. He is looking at talent and testing them in real-game situations in order to select the true gems for his pool. Within the next 18 months, if Bora is allowed to implement his plans, we will have the machinery to beat the Central American teams on a regular basis.

Well said.