90 minutes to paradise - Jamaica Under-17s decide World Cup fate against Honduras

Adrian Frater, News Editor

WESTERN BUREAU:

The hopes of the nation will be on Jamaica's young Reggae Boyz this afternoon, as they seek to qualify for this summer's FIFA Under-17 World Cup at the expense of Honduras, in a much-anticipated CONCACAF Under-17 quarter-final fixture at the Montego Bay Sports Complex in Catherine Hall, St James, starting at three o'clock.

Trinidad & Tobago, the second of the two Caribbean quarter-finalists, will also be in the hunt for one of the tournament's four World Cup places today when they battle the much fancied Canada in the noon curtain-raiser, which promises to be an epic affair.

After a nervous start to the tournament in a 2-2 draw against T&T, the young Jamaicans sparkled in their next game, clipping Guatemala 1-0.

Following the game, Jamaica's head coach Wendell Downswell said the youngsters were now measuring up to the expectations of the coaching staff.

Playing well

"We played quite well against Guatemala and we're confident that we will do the same against Honduras, which is also a Central American team," said Downswell.

"The boys know that we are just 90 minutes away from what we have be working so hard for and I have every confidence that they will get the job done."

After reasonable performances in their 2-1 win against Barbados and 0-0 draw against Canada, Honduras look a pretty decent outfit. In fact, after their game against Canada, their coach Emilio Umanzor said confidence was extremely high in the team.

"I am happy with the way the team is playing at this time," said coach Umanzor. "To get to the World Cup we have to get by Jamaica and that is what we intend to do."

Jamaica's Under-17 footballers have previously participated at the FIFA World Cup, back in 1999, in New Zealand.

Jamaica's charge

In their bid to emulate the team which qualified for that edition, Jamaica's charge will be led by striker Jason Wright, who scored against both T&T and Guatemala, skipper Omar Holness, the robust Alvas Powell and the wily Cardell Benbow, who all played well against Guatemala.

Meanwhile, the Hondurans will be hoping that Bryan Rochez and Eder Valasque, who scored in the game against Barbados, will enjoy more success against another Caribbean team.

In the curtain-raiser, the T&T team, on a high after their 2-2 draw against Jamaica and 1-0 win against Guatemala, will be hard-pressed to contain a Canadian team, which looked ominous in spanking Barbados 8-0, but subsequently looked ordinary in a 0-0 draw against Honduras.

"We have done very well to so far but that is only a part of what we are here to do," said T&T's coach, Shawn Cooper. "We are hoping to do even better by qualifying for the World Cup."

The Canadians, who should be well rested after their gruelling midday duel with Honduras, are, without doubt, a gifted team and any repeat of their performance against Barbados could spell trouble for T&T.

"We will be ready," said Canada's coach, Sean Fleming. "We came here to qualify for the World Cup and we remain confident that we will accomplish that goal."

In their bid to upstage T&T, Canada will be looking to the likes of the gifted Kevin Aleman, Luca Gasparotto and Christopher Nanco.

However, T&T will be looking to secure glory through the likes of Adan Noel, Shackiel Henry and Dario Holmes.