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Boyz desperate for a win
Published: Thursday | March 28, 2013
Whitmore
Audley Boyd, Assistant Editor - Sports
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica:
MAXIMUM POINTS. That is the goal Jamaica's Reggae Boyz will be chasing when they resume their CONCACAF Final Round FIFA World Cup qualifying football campaign at mid-year.
"We'll have to start getting three points now," Theodore Whitmore, the team's head coach, told The Gleaner, following their 0-2 defeat to Costa Rica at the Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica on Tuesday night.
Michael Umana (22nd minute) and Diego Calvo (81st) scored the goals for the home team.
Following a foul by Rodolph Austin 10 yards outside the box on the right flank, Jamaica conceded the game's opening goal off a set play, much due to sloppy marking. Alvaro Saborio was left unmarked to collect Ariel Rodriguez's spot kick, then fed a pass inside for Umana to tap into the net from six yards.
Jamaica stepped up its play and took control of the game after conceding that goal, but they could not equalise, even though Austin smashed a free kick from 35 yards that had Navas diving full stretch to deflect the ball from goal.
VICTORY FOR COSTA RICA
Second-half substitute Calvo sealed a tight game for Costa Rica with a solo goal involving much individual brilliance and composure on the left. After slipping central defender Jermaine Taylor, who sold himself with a sliding challenge and gave up the inside position, Calvo took the ball inside, then shimmied past two other defenders desperately rushing to block a shot that never came. He eventually curled a shot into the far post that goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts could not save.
Victory lifted Costa Rica off the bottom of the six-team standings to second on four points, the same as Honduras and the United States.
Panama lead with five, after toppling previous leaders Honduras 2-0, while Mexico have three points after their third consecutive tie, a 0-0 stalemate against the United States at The Azteca.
"It's still close when you look at the other teams; five points, four points, three points," Whitmore observed. "I think we've to start getting three points whether home or away, I think that's going to make the difference."
Scoring has been the team's major headache, having netted only once in three matches, the 1-1 finish against Panama at the National Stadium in Kingston.
They got the two clearest chances of the game, both coming in the first half and created by their most dangerous attacker on the night, Luton Shelton.
At the fourth minute, he fed a pass to new English recruit Jermaine Beckford, who has been ineffective in the team's past two starts. On an angle, Beckford shot from near six yards, but goalkeeper Keylor Navas made the save.
Shelton's chance, after dribbling through the Costa Rican defence, came at the 43rd minute. He came fact-to-face with the goalkeeper, hesitated, cut a defender then chipped a spot into the arms of the goalie.
"We got our chances, especially in the first half where we could have led or equalised and it would have been a different game," Whitmore expressed.
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/2...s/sports7.html
Published: Thursday | March 28, 2013
Whitmore
Audley Boyd, Assistant Editor - Sports
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica:
MAXIMUM POINTS. That is the goal Jamaica's Reggae Boyz will be chasing when they resume their CONCACAF Final Round FIFA World Cup qualifying football campaign at mid-year.
"We'll have to start getting three points now," Theodore Whitmore, the team's head coach, told The Gleaner, following their 0-2 defeat to Costa Rica at the Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica on Tuesday night.
Michael Umana (22nd minute) and Diego Calvo (81st) scored the goals for the home team.
Following a foul by Rodolph Austin 10 yards outside the box on the right flank, Jamaica conceded the game's opening goal off a set play, much due to sloppy marking. Alvaro Saborio was left unmarked to collect Ariel Rodriguez's spot kick, then fed a pass inside for Umana to tap into the net from six yards.
Jamaica stepped up its play and took control of the game after conceding that goal, but they could not equalise, even though Austin smashed a free kick from 35 yards that had Navas diving full stretch to deflect the ball from goal.
VICTORY FOR COSTA RICA
Second-half substitute Calvo sealed a tight game for Costa Rica with a solo goal involving much individual brilliance and composure on the left. After slipping central defender Jermaine Taylor, who sold himself with a sliding challenge and gave up the inside position, Calvo took the ball inside, then shimmied past two other defenders desperately rushing to block a shot that never came. He eventually curled a shot into the far post that goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts could not save.
Victory lifted Costa Rica off the bottom of the six-team standings to second on four points, the same as Honduras and the United States.
Panama lead with five, after toppling previous leaders Honduras 2-0, while Mexico have three points after their third consecutive tie, a 0-0 stalemate against the United States at The Azteca.
"It's still close when you look at the other teams; five points, four points, three points," Whitmore observed. "I think we've to start getting three points whether home or away, I think that's going to make the difference."
Scoring has been the team's major headache, having netted only once in three matches, the 1-1 finish against Panama at the National Stadium in Kingston.
They got the two clearest chances of the game, both coming in the first half and created by their most dangerous attacker on the night, Luton Shelton.
At the fourth minute, he fed a pass to new English recruit Jermaine Beckford, who has been ineffective in the team's past two starts. On an angle, Beckford shot from near six yards, but goalkeeper Keylor Navas made the save.
Shelton's chance, after dribbling through the Costa Rican defence, came at the 43rd minute. He came fact-to-face with the goalkeeper, hesitated, cut a defender then chipped a spot into the arms of the goalie.
"We got our chances, especially in the first half where we could have led or equalised and it would have been a different game," Whitmore expressed.
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/2...s/sports7.html