Venezuela blank Boyz 2-0

Adrian Frater, News Editor

Western Bureau:

South America outfit Venezuela broke the hearts of the thousands of Reggae Boyz fans who turned out to cheer on the local team at the Montego Bay Stadium on Friday night, scoring a good 2-0 win over the Jamaicans in their much-anticipated friendly international.

After matching Venezuela in the first half which ended 0-0, Jamaica lost key defender Jermaine Taylor in the second half and the visitors exploited his absence with goals from Nicolas Fedor and Alejandro Moreno.

"I expected a tough game and it was a tough game," said Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) boss, Captain Horace Burrell, in a post-game interview. "Many people mistakenly believe that Venezuela are the soft team in South America but they proved themselves the better team tonight ... we just have to learn from this experience and move on."

The Venezuelans started the second half looking quite determined, but after being denied twice by brilliant saves by Jamaica's custodian Dwayne Miller, they finally took the lead in the 67th minute. Fedora found himself at the end of a good build-up and fired out of the reach of the goalkeeper, making the score 1-0.

With Jamaica's defence struggling to regroup following the opening goal, Venezuela struck almost immediately after the re-start. Following a crisp attack, which started on the left flank, Moreno broke clear before the goal and lashed home beautifully, making the score 2-0.

Defensive weaknesses

"Our plan was to be stable at the back at the start of the game because we have shown some defensive weaknesses in some of our recent games," said Venezuela's coach Cesar Farias. "We gradually opened up as the game went on and got the result we wanted ... we are proud of this performance."

With better finishing in the first half, the result could well have been different for Jamaica. Fifteen minutes into the game, Jamaica created a good opening when Dicoy Williams got a good look on goal but directed his close range header wide of the mark.

Jamaica again wasted good chances in the 23rd and 32nd minutes. First, Rodolph Austin squared perfectly to Demar Phillips inside the penalty area but instead of shooting, he elected to control the ball and lost possession. Then Omar Cummings dribbled through the heart of the Venezuela but cracked his shot off target.

"I am somewhat disappointed because I thought we played flat and some of the players did not show the expected maturity," said Jamaica's coach Theodore 'Tappa' Whitmore. "We just have to quickly regroup for Sunday's game against El Salvador, as these games are really about ensuring we are ready for the upcoming CONCACAF Gold Cup."

While Venezuela clearly had the better of the second half, Jamaica had a few encouraging moments in the second half, especially through substitute Kavin Bryan. In the 84th minute, Bryan broke free down the middle but his grounder went straight at the goalkeeper.

"We just have to sit down and assess where we went wrong and make the required adjustment ... I saw nothing to be ashamed of in our performance," said Captain Burrell. "I believe many lessons were learnt here tonight and I hope we will get better from the experience."