Boyz show grit in 1-1 draw against Qatar
Published:Saturday | August 27, 2022 | 12:10 AM
While national senior men’s coach Merron Gordon did not get his ideal ending to the four-team tournament in Austria, he commended the attacking improvement shown and the attitude displayed by the locally based Reggae Boyz in their 1-1 draw against Qatar in their international friendly yesterday.
Playing behind closed doors at the Winer Neustadt Stadion in Vienna, Jourdaine Fletcher gave the Boyz the lead in the 70th minute but Khaled Muneer equalised seven minutes from full time as the new-look Boyz ended the tournament with one draw and one defeat.
Building off the positives that Gordon said they gained from their 3-0 opening loss to Morocco on Tuesday, he was pleased with how more threatening they were in front of goal while sticking to the tactical discipline which has been an asset to them and the fight that they showed.
“I think this was not only me but the technical staff planned this out in terms of tactically how we were going to approach the game. I think we got it right the last time; we were just unfortunate. So we knew as long as we could build on that, we could get it right (yesterday),” Gordon said. “Probably with a little bit more concentration, we wouldn’t have given up that goal and we would have won the game. We are an emerging country in terms of football and for us to come here and compete against them like this, showed grit and determination from the boys.”
While noting the difficulties in match fitness with the players in their preseason and some getting their first tastes of international football, Gordon said that the commitment to their game plan in choosing their moments to press made them confident in the game.
“We knew coming into this tournament that we didn’t have the legs to press for 90 minutes, so we pressed occasionally. We were looking to set traps with the press and I think that we got that right also,” Gordon said. “I think it was a team effort. A result like this took a lot of concentration from everyone. Even with the (substitutes), the tempo didn’t drop. They had the understanding because we believed in what we planned and all of us executed well.”
While far from perfect, veteran defender Adrian Mariappa credited how they were able to absorb the pressure with a makeshift defence and completed the goal which he said was as good a team goal as he has seen.
“It’s a new back five essentially playing together and there were people playing out of position but I thought the attitude was spot on and that’s the first thing you need and it always gives you a chance and a base to play from. It was a much-improved performance and there were a lot of positives we can take from it,” Mariappa said.
With this exercise complete, Gordon says that he is hoping that the local core built can strengthen and remain for a smooth transition to the senior team in official FIFA match windows for continued progress. Jamaica’s next official game will be against Argentina on September 27 at Red Bull Arena in New Jersey.