A Gold Cup to remember

Audley Boyd, Assistant Editor - Sport

FOR the first time, the Reggae Boyz won all three group phase matches at the CONCACAF Gold Cup. For the first time, Jamaica scored in all their first-round matches. And for the first time, the country ended its preliminary schedule without conceding a goal.

With a lot of class and style, Jamaica's senior men's football team - which had gone further with two third-place finishes - scaled new boundaries at the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, where they won many admirers with impressive displays of total team football.

There is still the biggest game yet to be played - today's final between the United States and Mexico - but the Jamaicans' play had been so glittering they had neutrals eating out of the palm of their hands, easily laying on the title of 'most exciting' team.

Such glowing attributes poured from the manner in which they registered victories over Grenada (4-0), Guatemala (2-0) and Honduras (1-0), equalling their group phase high tally of seven goals.

For much of the opening 25 minutes of their quarter-final encounter against the United States, they appeared on course to enhancing that reputation.

That was until their game went in another direction and Jamaica ended up losing 2-0 to second-half goals and were eliminated.

It was not the first time they were being eliminated at the second round by the United States, having gone down 3-1 to the Americans at Foxboro, Massachusetts, in the 2005 quarter-finals.

Statistics have a way of reappearing in a familiar/not too familiar pattern, whichever way you look at it.

In 2005, Jamaica netted their preliminary high equal of seven goals, with a 4-3 beating of Guatemala and 3-3 draw against South Africa, the guest team.

Then, central defender Jermaine Taylor will remember picking up a straight red card for a challenge at the half line on the United States' Damarcus Beasley.

In Sunday's quarter-final against the US, Taylor was again hit with the straight red, this time against Jermaine Jones, whom he did not touch on the play for which he received the booking.

That may remain a talking point, as much as the manner in which Jamaica made their mark on the tournament, beginning with their 4-0 demolition of Grenada.

Luton Shelton (21st), Ryan Johnson (39th), Demar Phillips (79th) and Omar Daley (84th) scored for the Reggae Boyz at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles on June 6.

From start to finish, they dominated possession as they pulled Grenada to and fro with super ball possession, and ended up scoring what may easily be considered the goal of the tournament.

It was manufactured in a neat combination play of one-twos with some deft touches from Keammar Daley and JeVaughn Watson, followed by a world-class finish from Omar Daley, who unleashed a left-footed volley from the top of the penalty box that rocketed into the pigeon-hole at the unprotected side of the goal.

One-sided contest

Just months before, in December 2010, Jamaica had struggled to get past Grenada in the Digicel Caribbean Cup semi-final in Martinique, winning that game 2-1 on an extra-time goal.

This scoring disparity not only reflected the one-sided nature of the contest, but the strides made by the Reggae Boyz in a relatively short period.

"I think they played with patience and it's good to watch a Caribbean side play like that, because in the Caribbean we tend to want to get the ball forward as quickly as possible," Grenadian coach, Michael Adams, admitted. "They weren't afraid to restart and they played what I call the 'third man running' very well; they popped the ball in, popped it back out then hit the width, and they did that well."

The possession statistics may have been a little less dominating against Guatemala, but the treatment was no different, as the Reggae Boyz silenced the very noisy Guatemala crowd that far outnumbered them at Florida International University on June 10.

Jamaica started that match shakily, taking almost quarter-hour to ease their nerves, before they started lifting their game to a level where Guatemala could not measure up.

Phillips, the left-sided defensive midfielder, scored both goals, netting at the 65th and 78th minutes to hand Jamaica their second victory.

Jamaica's central defender, Dicoy Williams, had to be replaced at the fifth minute and would take no further part in the competition.

Williams swung high in an attempt to make a clearance and hurt himself, while kicking over a Guatemalan opponent as he missed the ball.

The Jamaicans were lucky not to have conceded a penalty.

Williams was replaced by Adrian Reid, who kept his spot through the remainder of the tournament.

When Jamaica finally hit a higher gear, they had the Guatemalans on the run, and stepped up their dominance even more when the Central Americans had a player sent off.

Central American teams, even at this Gold Cup, have a way of trampling over Caribbean teams. But even more so after the sending off, the Reggae Boyz totally embarrassed the Central Americans with their passing game, forcing their opponents to back off to ensure they never conceded more goals, as the threat loomed large with a spate of missed chances.

For Jamaica's next game, on June 13 at Red Bull Arena in New Jersey, Whitmore made six changes to his original starting team.

Jamaica had already qualified for the quarter-finals, but needed to avoid defeat in order to top the group. A loss could have spelt elimination for Honduras who, with four points, could have ended up as a contender for one of two spots reserved for the best third-place teams.

Prior to the match, Whitmore issued a warning to the Hondurans regarding the number of changes to the team, saying: "As much as this game is important, we have a squad of players and a number of changes will be made going into this match, and I think these players we are injecting will be hungry.

"So I think it will be more difficult for the Honduran team because they are looking at us and they know what we have, but I think they have a next guess coming."

Clearly, the Hondurans never paid attention to that threat.

For the first half, the new-look Jamaica team played some of the best football any representative team from this country has ever played, in years.

Their performance was beautiful, almost like a perfect ballet display, full of rhythm, poise and style - the no-look passes from Jevaughn Watson, skip overs, running away from the ball for another teammate to fetch, the little chips, 'shifts' and dribbles from the likes of Keammar Daley and Dane Richards, as well as the steady central midfield influence by Gold Cup debutant Damian Williams.

To top it all, point striker Ryan Johnson added a spectacular goal with a thumping drive from near 25 yards after skipping past two challenges, which saw the ball crashing onto the crossbar, then ricochet powerfully into the back of the late-diving goalkeeper, Noel valladares, and into the net.

The goal - struck at the 36th minute - ensured Jamaica's 1-0 victory and, fittingly, a history-making clean sweep of their three preliminary round matches.

Johnson, who worked hard all tournament, would later miss a penalty against Guatemala - a miss which typified the uncharacteristic finishing that, at another time, could easily have earned him the Gold Cup's golden boot award.

Some of the changes to the Jamaica team against Honduras were inspired by the yellow cards picked up by some players, including sweeper and captain Shavar Thomas. Another yellow card would have ruled those with one out of the important quarter-finals.

Central midfielder Jason Morrison, for the first time in his career, bravely took on Thomas' role as sweeper and marshalled the troops, which did not give up a clear scoring chance, even as they lost form and were outplayed inside the final 20 minutes.

"The first half was an excellent half, excellent, excellent performance," said Whitmore. "I think the players turned up and they played. That's what we're looking for.

"The headache is left for the coaching staff, and that's a good sign. Everybody is looking to see the next eleven which will be out there on the field in the quarter-finals," he noted.

Jamaica travelled by bus to Washington, DC, for their next match against the United States.

One player would not make the trip - Williams. His injury from the Guatemala game having taken a turn for the worse.

"I feel very bad within myself to know that I couldn't be part of a team to win the Gold Cup, but it's just life, it's football, things do happen in life and you just have to take what happens and move on," a dejected-looking Williams said.

The Jamaica squad had already arrived in the US capital short on numbers. The official quota for the tournament is 23 and their numbers then dipped to 19.

Tyrone Marshall was released to join his Major League Soccer club and could not be taken back into the squad, according to tournament rules; Ian Goodison was dropped for disciplinary reasons, after failing to join the squad for a pre-tournament training camp in Brazil; while Kavin Bryan had broken his leg playing in Vietnam.

In 17 previous tries, Jamaica had never beaten the United States in senior men's football. Their previous performances at Gold Cup 2011 brought much promise of change, especially inside the opening minutes when Ryan Johnson and Luton Shelton each missed a 'sitter' off the same play, at the fourth minute.

However, the Reggae Boyz never matched their dizzying heights and fell to second-half goals from Jermaine Jones (59th) and Clint Dempsey, in a failed attempt at another first.

More than the defeat, the performance, or lack of it, affected the team more.

"We just didn't show up," one leading player lamented.

Whitmore, however, chose to look at the brighter side.

"With the players who we have the future looks bright," he said. "I must congratulate the players for their hard work throughout this tournament. We'll just have to get some practice games for the rest of the year .... and some quality opponents to build to 2014 World Cup campaign.

"We've some areas in the team that we've to start looking on to get the team more competitive," he added.