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published: Thursday | September 13, 2007
Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter
WITH NO match confirmed, Jamaica's Reggae Boyz remained idle for another FIFA international friendly date yesterday.
Although negotiations had been on going and sources close to the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) had hinted at the possibility of the national team taking on Colombia, those talks broke down and the JFF, apparently, instead chose to focus on the Under-23 Olympic qualifiers. National technical director Velibor 'Bora' Milutinovic left the island on Saturday to join the team coached by former national coach Wendell Downswell.
The Jamaican's have not taken part in an international friendly since late June when a 22-man local squad toured Asia under Milutinovic. On that occasion, the team experienced some disastrous results including a 8-1 drubbing at the hands of then 45th-ranked Iran.
A worrying statistic for the national team, which missed out on a chance to face the region's top teams by failing to claim a spot in this year's Gold Cup, is that the powerhouse teams seem to already be well under way interms of preparing for the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers, which are expected to begin early next year.
Canada, Costa Rico, Mexico, Panama and Honduras were in action yesterday while El Salvador and Trinidad and Tobago already have friendly internationals booked for next month.
The United States, the top team from the 2006 qualification campaign, continued their preparations by hosting five-time World Cup champions Brazil in a 4-2 losing effort on Monday.
Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter
WITH NO match confirmed, Jamaica's Reggae Boyz remained idle for another FIFA international friendly date yesterday.
Although negotiations had been on going and sources close to the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) had hinted at the possibility of the national team taking on Colombia, those talks broke down and the JFF, apparently, instead chose to focus on the Under-23 Olympic qualifiers. National technical director Velibor 'Bora' Milutinovic left the island on Saturday to join the team coached by former national coach Wendell Downswell.
The Jamaican's have not taken part in an international friendly since late June when a 22-man local squad toured Asia under Milutinovic. On that occasion, the team experienced some disastrous results including a 8-1 drubbing at the hands of then 45th-ranked Iran.
A worrying statistic for the national team, which missed out on a chance to face the region's top teams by failing to claim a spot in this year's Gold Cup, is that the powerhouse teams seem to already be well under way interms of preparing for the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers, which are expected to begin early next year.
Canada, Costa Rico, Mexico, Panama and Honduras were in action yesterday while El Salvador and Trinidad and Tobago already have friendly internationals booked for next month.
The United States, the top team from the 2006 qualification campaign, continued their preparations by hosting five-time World Cup champions Brazil in a 4-2 losing effort on Monday.
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