Boyz-Ghana clash cancelled
Coach to use extra time to adjust to conditions in Austria
Published:Saturday | August 20, 2022 | 12:10 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
The Reggae Boyz will play fewer games than originally planned in their invitational four-team tournament in Austria and national senior men’s coach Merron Gordon says that the extra time will be used to better adjust to the conditions.
His comments come as today’s scheduled opener against Ghana was cancelled when the African team did not arrive in time for the match. According to Jamaica Football Federation press officer Earl Bailey, the organisers had requested that the match be played on another day. However, Gordon elected to reject the offer in the interest of the team. The other participants, Morocco and Qatar, are already in Austria and Jamaica’s upcoming matches against them on August 23 and 26 will proceed as scheduled.
In a press conference yesterday, Gordon who is taking charge of the tournament in the absence of interim head coach Paul Hall said that the cancellation is not ideal but the additional time will be beneficial to properly adapt to conditions.
“We didn’t get an option to play a game tomorrow (today). That is what we were hoping for. They said they couldn’t arrange a game for us tomorrow. With us not playing, it will give us a bit of time to prepare and get the boys going and kind of acclimatise to the area in terms of the time zones,” Gordon said. “People are still sleeping when they should be up and it’s kind of being a bother for the boys, especially for the ones who are not really exposed to international football. But the boys are in good spirits and working hard and I think that they are going to give their best.”
Gordon noted the improvements in yesterday’s training session compared to their first one on Thursday as they were still getting used to the time zone and other factors. Gordon said that the team’s concentration levels have improved and he is confident of continued progress once the full team has been assembled by this weekend.
“We really wanted to play today. But sometimes we get some setbacks that we can go back and work out. At least we have two more days to get the boys prepared and we will have a few players coming in late. So by then, they should be ready for the Morocco game,” Gordon said.
Amal Knight, Trayvone Reid and Colorado Murray arrived on Thursday after reported travel challenges delayed their arrival in Austria. Three more players arrived in camp yesterday with veteran defender Adrian Mariappa scheduled to arrive tomorrow.
Gordon highlighted the importance of the friendlies for the squad as the majority are locally based players seeking to make a case for inclusion in the 2026 World Cup qualifying cycle and the future plans of Hall. Hall is reportedly close to securing a long-term deal to become the permanent head coach of the Reggae Boyz.