Tweet
Focus on youth paying off - Boxhill
Jamaica Football Federation president Crenston Boxhill. - File
By Nodley Wright, Freelance Writer
The historic win of Jamaica's Under-20 footballers over their Argentinean counterparts at the Pan American Games yesterday gave president of the Jamaica Football Federation a huge lift and he was full of praise for them.
"This is one of the greatest results in the history of our football. We have never beaten Argentina before," Boxhill told Star Sports shortly after he got the news of the win via a phone call from Brazil.
That win was particularly pleasing for Boxhill who witnessed the failure of both the Under-17 and the Under-20s to make it to their age-group World Championships.
"We were disappointed when none of the youth teams qualified for the respective World Cups but I have always held that the programme will bear fruit and it has started to do so now. It is just a matter of time before we start seeing more results like these," added Boxhill, who prided his term in office on the development of the youth programme.
That result, according to Boxhill, validated his view that "the youth programme is on track".
"This is not a fluke. In our previous game we beat Colombia which historically have had strong youth teams. Right now I am looking for even greater results in this competition and later down the road," he said of the Wendell Downswell-coached team.
The man who defeated Captain Horace Burrell in November 2003 in elections for the top office in the country's football hierarchy, and who is set to go up against him later this year, was dismissive of the view that Jamaica beat a second-rate team.
"When you play a country you play a country. We went on an Asian tour and we probably used a C team but we did not use that as an excuse and those who criticised the performance did not want to hear that either. A lot of Jamaicans were upset, and rightly so, and they did not care which Jamaican team played.
"A country such as Argentina with its resources, history, size and population, which is many times Jamaica's, normally would be expected to beat us every time. To compete against a team even from a pool of their top 50 Under-20 players is significant and anyone trying to water down that achievement is not looking at the football properly," he explained.
That view, according to Boxhill, was based on the culture of measuring football progress or improvement on qualification for World Cups.
"Unfortunately, we put all the emphasis on qualification for World Cups and, as such, we were all disappointed (when the teams didn't qualify) but look at what we have done. We have beaten Mexico, the United States and Argentina at the youth level all in the same year," he argued.
Jamaica Football Federation president Crenston Boxhill. - File
By Nodley Wright, Freelance Writer
The historic win of Jamaica's Under-20 footballers over their Argentinean counterparts at the Pan American Games yesterday gave president of the Jamaica Football Federation a huge lift and he was full of praise for them.
"This is one of the greatest results in the history of our football. We have never beaten Argentina before," Boxhill told Star Sports shortly after he got the news of the win via a phone call from Brazil.
That win was particularly pleasing for Boxhill who witnessed the failure of both the Under-17 and the Under-20s to make it to their age-group World Championships.
"We were disappointed when none of the youth teams qualified for the respective World Cups but I have always held that the programme will bear fruit and it has started to do so now. It is just a matter of time before we start seeing more results like these," added Boxhill, who prided his term in office on the development of the youth programme.
That result, according to Boxhill, validated his view that "the youth programme is on track".
"This is not a fluke. In our previous game we beat Colombia which historically have had strong youth teams. Right now I am looking for even greater results in this competition and later down the road," he said of the Wendell Downswell-coached team.
The man who defeated Captain Horace Burrell in November 2003 in elections for the top office in the country's football hierarchy, and who is set to go up against him later this year, was dismissive of the view that Jamaica beat a second-rate team.
"When you play a country you play a country. We went on an Asian tour and we probably used a C team but we did not use that as an excuse and those who criticised the performance did not want to hear that either. A lot of Jamaicans were upset, and rightly so, and they did not care which Jamaican team played.
"A country such as Argentina with its resources, history, size and population, which is many times Jamaica's, normally would be expected to beat us every time. To compete against a team even from a pool of their top 50 Under-20 players is significant and anyone trying to water down that achievement is not looking at the football properly," he explained.
That view, according to Boxhill, was based on the culture of measuring football progress or improvement on qualification for World Cups.
"Unfortunately, we put all the emphasis on qualification for World Cups and, as such, we were all disappointed (when the teams didn't qualify) but look at what we have done. We have beaten Mexico, the United States and Argentina at the youth level all in the same year," he argued.
Paul Marin -19 is one thing, 20 is a whole other matter. It gets even worse if they win the UCL. *groan*. 
05/18/2011.MU fans naah cough, but all a unuh a vomit?-Lazie 1/11/2015
Comment