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Burrell: Gold Cup absence could undermine 2010 World Cup bid
Trinidad and Tobago's Andre Troussaint (11) breaks away from United States' Michael Parkhurst (16) and Jay Demerit during the first half of the CONCACAF Gold Cup football game at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, on Saturday. USA won, 2-0. - AP
GORDON WILLIAMS, Contributor
MIAMI, Florida
The Reggae Boyz's failure to qualify for the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup is worrying former Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) boss, Captain Horace Burrell, who believes their absence from the tournament could seriously damage the country's bid for a place in World Cup 2010.
Burrell, a vice-president of CONCACAF who served as match commissioner during Saturday's game between Canada and Guadeloupe at the Orange Bowl here, said while Jamaica is expected to play several friendly internationals in preparation for World Cup qualifiers, which begin in 2008, the absence from tournament-type competition featured at the Gold Cup could short-change their efforts.
"I think, first of all, the standard of football being played in this Gold Cup is higher than I have ever seen throughout the years; all the teams seemed to have improved considerably," explained Burrell on Saturday night as Haiti played Costa Rica in the second game of the double-header. "And, of course, Jamaica not being here is certainly at a disadvantage and will be at a disadvantage a little later during the qualifiers.
Even more worried
"To be honest with you, as a Jamaican, I am now even more concerned about our chances of qualifying (for the World Cup), seeing what these (Gold Cup) teams are doing now and knowing the amount of work that they are doing and the level of pre-paredness that is now taking place among these teams," added Burrell, who plans to run for election as JFF president in November.
"I have to be concerned because the qualifiers are set to commence early next year and I am not sure that we have yet begun in as serious a way as we should have, as these teams are now doing. And, I'm really hoping that the absence of a tournament like this does not come back to haunt us a little later."
Jamaica failed to qualify for the final round of the Digicel Caribbean Cup and, therefore, had no chance of playing in the Gold Cup, which hosts the top-four teams from the Caribbean. Haiti, Guadeloupe, Trinidad and Tobago and Cuba are representing the region in the 12-team tournament being played June 6-24 in the United States.
Burrell also criticised what he described as the steady decline of Jamaica's football programme, which he said was reflected in not only the nation's failure to reach the Gold Cup, but also the Under-17 and Under-20 World Youth Championships (WYC) this year. Both youth teams, although declared by the current JFF administration as being among the best prepared in the country's history, bowed out in the final qualifying round.
"Everyone by now, even the blindest of all, would have realised the rapid regression that has taken place, you know, as it relates to Jamaican football," Burrell said.
Under Burrell's nearly decade-long tenure as JFF president, before he was ousted four years ago by the current administration led by Crenston Boxhill, Jamaica qualified for the finals of the 1999 Under-17 WYC, the 2001 Under-20 WYC and the senior World Cup finals in 1998. None of Jamaica's teams has reached the finals of a world championship tournament since.
Burrell insisted that with the favourable draw Jamaica received to qualify for the Gold Cup and, at least the Under-17 WYC, it was difficult to fathom how those teams failed to advance.
Silver platter
"How can one rationalise not qualifying for an important event like this when you got it on a platter?" he asked. "We got an opportunity to host, at home, a Caribbean zone to qualify for the Digicel Caribbean Cup. We failed to qualify, at home - at home - against teams like St. Vincent, Haiti and so on. Those are teams that qualified ahead of Jamaica. And so we have suffered by not qualifying for this one (Gold Cup).
"And also, talking about the other age group competitions, when you look at the recently concluded Under-17 qualifying tournament in Jamaica, where there were five teams, three qualifying for a World Cup finals, at home, and Jamaica not qualifying, not coming one to three, instead we finished dead last, compared to 1999 when four teams played the qualifying tournament in Jamaica and Jamaica won the tournament, thereby qualifying for the World Cup in New Zealand, for the Under-17 World Cup. That is the kind of comparison I'm making."
As Jamaica's status in world football, according to Burrell, continues to tumble, not even the once-impregnable 'Office' holds any fears for visiting teams. Jamaica once enjoyed an impressive unbeaten streak at the National Stadium, but losses have come more frequently in recent times, including a 1-0 defeat to Chile on June 5.
"The Office is no longer a fortress," he said.
Burrell explained that lack of football talent was not Jamaica's problem, and even admitted that the country produced more talented players in generations prior to qualifying for France '98.
"I believe that in the years prior to my taking over (as JFF president), the talent in Jamaica was even better," he said while mentioning the names of several former national players, including Allan 'Skill' Cole, Lenworth 'Teacher' Hyde, Dennis 'Den Den' Hutchinson and Corcel Blair, who never reached the World Cup finals. "... I am now at a stage where I'm beginning to believe that we're rapidly heading back in that same direction." "It is not about criticising," added Burrell, who claims he is often accused of undermining the current JFF administration when-ever he speaks about the state of Jamaica's football. "But it is very painful to sit and to accept, and to see all the hard work that was put in, being destroyed, and hence, one of the reasons I have decided to make myself available for selection, to help."
Trinidad and Tobago's Andre Troussaint (11) breaks away from United States' Michael Parkhurst (16) and Jay Demerit during the first half of the CONCACAF Gold Cup football game at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, on Saturday. USA won, 2-0. - AP
GORDON WILLIAMS, Contributor
MIAMI, Florida
The Reggae Boyz's failure to qualify for the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup is worrying former Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) boss, Captain Horace Burrell, who believes their absence from the tournament could seriously damage the country's bid for a place in World Cup 2010.
Burrell, a vice-president of CONCACAF who served as match commissioner during Saturday's game between Canada and Guadeloupe at the Orange Bowl here, said while Jamaica is expected to play several friendly internationals in preparation for World Cup qualifiers, which begin in 2008, the absence from tournament-type competition featured at the Gold Cup could short-change their efforts.
"I think, first of all, the standard of football being played in this Gold Cup is higher than I have ever seen throughout the years; all the teams seemed to have improved considerably," explained Burrell on Saturday night as Haiti played Costa Rica in the second game of the double-header. "And, of course, Jamaica not being here is certainly at a disadvantage and will be at a disadvantage a little later during the qualifiers.
Even more worried
"To be honest with you, as a Jamaican, I am now even more concerned about our chances of qualifying (for the World Cup), seeing what these (Gold Cup) teams are doing now and knowing the amount of work that they are doing and the level of pre-paredness that is now taking place among these teams," added Burrell, who plans to run for election as JFF president in November.
"I have to be concerned because the qualifiers are set to commence early next year and I am not sure that we have yet begun in as serious a way as we should have, as these teams are now doing. And, I'm really hoping that the absence of a tournament like this does not come back to haunt us a little later."
Jamaica failed to qualify for the final round of the Digicel Caribbean Cup and, therefore, had no chance of playing in the Gold Cup, which hosts the top-four teams from the Caribbean. Haiti, Guadeloupe, Trinidad and Tobago and Cuba are representing the region in the 12-team tournament being played June 6-24 in the United States.
Burrell also criticised what he described as the steady decline of Jamaica's football programme, which he said was reflected in not only the nation's failure to reach the Gold Cup, but also the Under-17 and Under-20 World Youth Championships (WYC) this year. Both youth teams, although declared by the current JFF administration as being among the best prepared in the country's history, bowed out in the final qualifying round.
"Everyone by now, even the blindest of all, would have realised the rapid regression that has taken place, you know, as it relates to Jamaican football," Burrell said.
Under Burrell's nearly decade-long tenure as JFF president, before he was ousted four years ago by the current administration led by Crenston Boxhill, Jamaica qualified for the finals of the 1999 Under-17 WYC, the 2001 Under-20 WYC and the senior World Cup finals in 1998. None of Jamaica's teams has reached the finals of a world championship tournament since.
Burrell insisted that with the favourable draw Jamaica received to qualify for the Gold Cup and, at least the Under-17 WYC, it was difficult to fathom how those teams failed to advance.
Silver platter
"How can one rationalise not qualifying for an important event like this when you got it on a platter?" he asked. "We got an opportunity to host, at home, a Caribbean zone to qualify for the Digicel Caribbean Cup. We failed to qualify, at home - at home - against teams like St. Vincent, Haiti and so on. Those are teams that qualified ahead of Jamaica. And so we have suffered by not qualifying for this one (Gold Cup).
"And also, talking about the other age group competitions, when you look at the recently concluded Under-17 qualifying tournament in Jamaica, where there were five teams, three qualifying for a World Cup finals, at home, and Jamaica not qualifying, not coming one to three, instead we finished dead last, compared to 1999 when four teams played the qualifying tournament in Jamaica and Jamaica won the tournament, thereby qualifying for the World Cup in New Zealand, for the Under-17 World Cup. That is the kind of comparison I'm making."
As Jamaica's status in world football, according to Burrell, continues to tumble, not even the once-impregnable 'Office' holds any fears for visiting teams. Jamaica once enjoyed an impressive unbeaten streak at the National Stadium, but losses have come more frequently in recent times, including a 1-0 defeat to Chile on June 5.
"The Office is no longer a fortress," he said.
Burrell explained that lack of football talent was not Jamaica's problem, and even admitted that the country produced more talented players in generations prior to qualifying for France '98.
"I believe that in the years prior to my taking over (as JFF president), the talent in Jamaica was even better," he said while mentioning the names of several former national players, including Allan 'Skill' Cole, Lenworth 'Teacher' Hyde, Dennis 'Den Den' Hutchinson and Corcel Blair, who never reached the World Cup finals. "... I am now at a stage where I'm beginning to believe that we're rapidly heading back in that same direction." "It is not about criticising," added Burrell, who claims he is often accused of undermining the current JFF administration when-ever he speaks about the state of Jamaica's football. "But it is very painful to sit and to accept, and to see all the hard work that was put in, being destroyed, and hence, one of the reasons I have decided to make myself available for selection, to help."
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