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Football-
News
Technical director Rene Simoes is gambling on youthful exuberance
when his Jamaican national senior team takes on an experienced
Canadian unit away the BMO Field in Toronto, Canada, Wednesday.
Game time is at 7:30 pm (6:30 pm
Jamaica time) and from all accounts the match should be played
before a full Stadium (about 20,000) under cool conditions.
While the Canadians, who strongly
believe that this set of players represent their best shot at the
World Cup Finals since 1986 in Mexico, have called up a host of
senior pros from all over Europe, Simoes has included 10
local-based players in his 20-man squad for this encounter, after
axing seasoned, experienced pros such as Marlon King, Ricardo
Fuller, Richard Langley, Jamal Campbell-Ryce, Jermaine Johnson,
Simon Ford and Omar Daley.
The little Brazilian is sticking
to his guns. He told reporters on Monday night that he believes in
these young players who are based at home and he sees a great
chance for them to shine and come to the fore.
“They are ready, I can see it in
their eyes, I know when they are ready and I know when they are
not because I am with them everyday,” he said.
He reinforced his stance by
adding that these local-based players are more advanced than when
he first worked with the local group for the 1998 campaign. “They
understand now that football is not only about when I have the
ball at my feet, but I have to play with my brain, too,” he said.
This Jamaican line-up features a
handful of players with little or no international caps, who are
still trying to find their feet at this level.
But without giving too much away,
Simoes said his technical staff has studied the Canadians and he
knows how to counter their play. “We hope it works,” he said.
The Jamaican team arrived in
Canada on Saturday afternoon with 10 players and was joined by
Wolry Wolfe and Demar Stewart. The numbers grew on Sunday with
captain Ricardo Gardner, Ian Goodison, Omar Cummings, Andy
Williams, Demar Phillips, Deon Burton and an injured Tyrone
Marshall.
Luton Shelton, who scored for his
new club in Norway on Sunday, arrived yesterday evening and was
only able to have one light training session with the team this
evening.
For the first two days the team
trained on an artificial surface at the St Michael’s College
School, before reporting for the compulsory practise at the BMO
Field.
However, a brief thunderstorm
caused the players to flee the facility after less than an hour
yesterday evening, as Simoes went into a session that was designed
to combat the Canadians.
Tuesday evening was just a light
workout.
Disappointed, Simoes said that he
was facing the same problems every international coach is facing –
the unavailability of players until the last few days.
Nonetheless, he believes that the
team has prepared “okay”, especially the local-based players, whom
he said have been together for “eight months”.
Meanwhile, experienced defender
Tyrone Marshall, who plays for the Toronto FC, which uses the BMO
as its home ground, will more than likely miss the game, though Dr
Charlie Roberts, has yet to rule him out.
The coach admits that he would be
a great loss, but he preferred to look on the brighter side. “When
he closes one door, we open the window for somebody else to come
in a show us what he has.”
The Canadians, brimming with
confidence, will be relying on the experience of more than a dozen
players who ply their trade in the European leagues, including
Tottenham Hotspur in England, Deportivo La Coruna in Span, Bochum
and Borussia Monchengladbach in Germany, Club Brugge in Belgium,
as well as Iverness in Scotland.
Some of the outstanding
Canadians, who come readily to mind, are Julian de Guzman, captain
Paul Stalteri, Dwayne De Rosario, who was voted last year’s player
of the year in his homeland, Pat Onstad, a veteran goalkeeper,
Iain Hume, who once played with Theodore Whitmore and Ian Goodison
in England, Atiba Hutchinson, Ali Gerba, Ron Friend, Tomasz
Radzinski, Kevin McKenna and Greg Sutton.
The Canadians are coached by Dale
Mitchell, a former player on the national team, and he is assisted
by Stephen Hart, a Trinidadian, who was temporary head coach when
the Boyz played in a two-way friendly two years ago.
Neither coach has yet decided on
his starting team.
Mitchell, who claims to know the
Jamaican team “very well”, noted that the Jamaicans are “very
talented, athletic and organised”. But he adds that his squad is
good enough to get the job done at home.
Earl Bailey
Editor - www.JamaicaWin.com |
