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Mexico game is World Cup key - Burrell
Published: Thursday | March 28, 2013
Former Jamaica Football Federation president, Captain Horace Burrell.
Audley Boyd, Assistant Editor - Sports
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica:
President of the Jamaica Football Federation Captain Horace Burrell has underlined the importance of Jamaica's next CONCACAF Final Round FIFA World Cup qualifier against Mexico at the National Stadium, as two teams desperate for points set to do battle on June 4.
A disappointed Burrell, who watched as Jamaica suffered a 0-2 loss to Costa Rica at the Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica on Tuesday night, believes there is much work to be done if Jamaica is to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and that the next game in what is a very tight group, will play a part in the team's ambitions.
"Everyone can see that some of our players are just not having their best game. Still, I'm confident that we have the quality, and come June 4 when we play Mexico, we should get it right," Burrell said after the Costa Rica match.
The loss plunged Jamaica to the bottom of the six-nation round-robin play-offs on two points. Yet, they are within a win of the leading team, as Panama top the standings on five points, while the United States, Honduras and Costa Rica are next on four, then Mexico, on three. All the teams have played three matches.
"What this shows is that it's a very tight group because Mexico, the traditional winners, would have been without any question at this stage on nine points. They are only on three points from three games; this is unprecedented for Mexico at this stage and, therefore, it just goes to show how competitive the group is and once the group is this competitive, you just have to keep your focus and keep going," Burrell reasoned.
With Jamaica and Mexico occupying the bottom positions, Burrell says their upcoming clash will be "massive".
Mexico nervous
"That game is going to be massive because we're at home, Mexico has not been able to dominate us, especially in The Office, and definitely at this time they're a nervous team because they've already played two home games and gotten two out of six points, so that makes it for Mexico very troubling," the JFF president argued.
"It's troubling for us too, but for Mexico, the kingpins, they would be more concerned at this time. So I expect a huge game come June 4 and I expect us to be very ready for that in light of the fact that we'll be in a camp before that, in The Bahamas, and we'll be going up against Tottenham Hotspurs, so I'm still feeling positive about our chances.
"One has to remember that it is not an easy achievement qualifying for a World Cup Final and you're going to have these kinks. We still have seven games to go, I say again, seven games to go and I am not daunted," Burrell remarked.
"World Cup qualification is not for the faint-hearted; you have to be courageous, you've to be strong, you've to be positive and that's how we are now; we're still in it, we just hit a bump in the road, but we will get past this, and come June 4 it should be a much different ball game in terms of our performance."
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/2...s/sports3.html
Published: Thursday | March 28, 2013
Former Jamaica Football Federation president, Captain Horace Burrell.
Audley Boyd, Assistant Editor - Sports
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica:
President of the Jamaica Football Federation Captain Horace Burrell has underlined the importance of Jamaica's next CONCACAF Final Round FIFA World Cup qualifier against Mexico at the National Stadium, as two teams desperate for points set to do battle on June 4.
A disappointed Burrell, who watched as Jamaica suffered a 0-2 loss to Costa Rica at the Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica on Tuesday night, believes there is much work to be done if Jamaica is to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and that the next game in what is a very tight group, will play a part in the team's ambitions.
"Everyone can see that some of our players are just not having their best game. Still, I'm confident that we have the quality, and come June 4 when we play Mexico, we should get it right," Burrell said after the Costa Rica match.
The loss plunged Jamaica to the bottom of the six-nation round-robin play-offs on two points. Yet, they are within a win of the leading team, as Panama top the standings on five points, while the United States, Honduras and Costa Rica are next on four, then Mexico, on three. All the teams have played three matches.
"What this shows is that it's a very tight group because Mexico, the traditional winners, would have been without any question at this stage on nine points. They are only on three points from three games; this is unprecedented for Mexico at this stage and, therefore, it just goes to show how competitive the group is and once the group is this competitive, you just have to keep your focus and keep going," Burrell reasoned.
With Jamaica and Mexico occupying the bottom positions, Burrell says their upcoming clash will be "massive".
Mexico nervous
"That game is going to be massive because we're at home, Mexico has not been able to dominate us, especially in The Office, and definitely at this time they're a nervous team because they've already played two home games and gotten two out of six points, so that makes it for Mexico very troubling," the JFF president argued.
"It's troubling for us too, but for Mexico, the kingpins, they would be more concerned at this time. So I expect a huge game come June 4 and I expect us to be very ready for that in light of the fact that we'll be in a camp before that, in The Bahamas, and we'll be going up against Tottenham Hotspurs, so I'm still feeling positive about our chances.
"One has to remember that it is not an easy achievement qualifying for a World Cup Final and you're going to have these kinks. We still have seven games to go, I say again, seven games to go and I am not daunted," Burrell remarked.
"World Cup qualification is not for the faint-hearted; you have to be courageous, you've to be strong, you've to be positive and that's how we are now; we're still in it, we just hit a bump in the road, but we will get past this, and come June 4 it should be a much different ball game in terms of our performance."
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/2...s/sports3.html