Reggae Boyz look to book berth in round two

Audley Boyd, Assistant Editor - Sports

MIAMI, Florida:

FOR today's CONCACAF Gold Cup match against Guatemala, the Reggae Boyz have one goal: to win.

The teams will clash at Florida International University (FIU) in the opening match of a double-header at 7 p.m. (6 p.m. Jamaica time). Honduras (one point) are favoured to beat Grenada (0) in the feature match, set to kick off at 9 p.m. (8 p.m. Jamaica time).

Victory for Jamaica will qualify the team for the next stage of the competition, even though they have one more Group B match to play (on Monday against Honduras in New Jersey) in the four-team preliminary round.

Already, the Boyz have three points from their one-sided 4-0 annihilation of Grenada in their opening game at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles on Monday.

On the same night, Guatemala fought hard in a goalless draw with Honduras to be on one point.

Two teams are certain to advance from the four-team group phase of this 12-nation championship, along with the top two third-place finishers among the three groups.

Theodore Whitmore came to the last Gold Cup assignment as head coach of the Jamaica team for the first time. It was not a happy baptism, as the team was eliminated at the first hurdle.

Taking no chances

This time, he does not intend to take any chances, aiming to topple a Guatemala team whose position is worse, at this point.

" ... We are preparing ourselves to face a tough Guatemala because their backs are against the wall, because they only have one point," said Whitmore. "So at least they need to get something out of our game, so we are preparing ourselves as much to qualify from that game."

Whitmore's sentiments were echoed by his coaching partner, Brazilian Alfredo Montesso, who was a member of the Rene Simoes staff when Jamaica qualified for the World Cup Finals in France, when Whitmore was a star player in the team.

"Actually, what we expect is to qualify the team in this game because we've been working with the players, they realise that the earlier we can qualify then it will be better for us, so we focus on that," Montesso said yesterday.

Then, they held their final work-out before the game, simulating set plays at the venue with the same starting eleven that ran roughshod over Grenada, the same team that will start.

Though the opposition is different, they are aiming for the same dominating result that was formalised with goals from Luton Shelton, Ryan Johnson, Demar Phillips and Omar Daley, a second-half substitute who injected much life into the game.

Scoring responsibilities should again revolve around front men Shelton and Johnson, along with the dangerous Dane Richards, who laid off sweet assists for the first two goals. But, as reflected by the scoresheet, goal options are varied and one of the things Jamaica will be relying on is a repetition of their strong all-round opener.

Key elements of that performance were the manner in which they dominated the ball and the great deal of scoring chances created.

"We've to enforce this ball possession game," said Montesso. " ... We played much better against Grenada in building the game. We have to still do that, but we've to get some more urgency, especially in the midfield, because they (Guatemala) are going to fight us there and we've to think to move the ball to the flanks, use the field a lot, and when we lose the ball we've to get compact, get close enough to mark their team and have everybody working in there."

Fought tooth and nail

Though taking 10 shots, Guatemala never forced many saves in their opening game, when they fought tooth and nail to escape with a draw that would have felt like a win, as they ended the Honduras match two men short, due to expulsions in the final 20 minutes of the second half.

According to Marco Pappa, one of Guatemalas' leading attackers, they must improve.

"We're happy with the effort we gave, but not satisfied," said Pappa. "You always have to improve and we have some opportunities to improve here coming up. We have to look forward to the next match and just continue working hard."

Another of their main players, 31-year-old striker and captain Carlos Ruiz, expects a stern examination from Jamaica.

"Guatemala are not the favoured team to go to the next round, so we have to show every game we can play hard, we can play good," he said.

Jamaica starting team: Donovan Ricketts (GK), Shavar Thomas, Dicoy Williams, Jermaine Taylor, Eric Vernan, Demar Phillips, Rodolph Austin, Jason Morrison, Luton Shelton, Dane Richards, Ryan Johnson.