AGAINST ALL ODDS!
Depleted, Covid-rocked Reggae Boyz face stern Saudi Arabia test
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — That Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz face an uphill task when they take to the field today to face Saudi Arabia, is an understatement.
Rocked by positive COVID-19 cases, unavailability of players due to the disjointed manner in which many arrived in the country, and an earlier public dispute over match fees, they will have to shunt those distractions aside for the 7:30 pm (11:30 am Jamaica time) kick-off at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium.
The hosts, ranked 67 on Fifa’s World List, have no such problems and have been busy meticulously preparing for the first of the two-game friendly series. The second is slated to next Tuesday at the same venue.
When they last met three years ago, the hosts ran away 5-2 victors.
Today, Head Coach Theodore Whitmore will likely have no more than 14 of the 24-play roster at his disposal, though management would like to convince public health authorities here that a few others would have completed the mandatory 48-hour quarantine and received negative PCR test results.
On Thursday night one player and a member of the coaching staff returned positive COVID-19 PCR test results, while two players were under investigation. Those two players have since been retested and the hopes are that they will return negative results and be redrafted into the squad.
One other player was also retested as his sample was deemed spoilt. He has not been isolated, but was not allowed to train with the rest of the group last night at the match venue.
Whitmore appears to be taking it all in stride.
“We are faced with a difficult task. Fourteen players available to us including the reverse goalkeeper, so we are short [of players], but I guess it was good going out there this afternoon [training] because from we came here, we have been inside. At least the players got the muscles active again, so we just have to take it from there,” he told the Jamaica Observer following the training session.
He added: “I don’t want to be negative; I want to stay positive. It is not the ideal situation but all we can ask for is for the guys to go out there tomorrow and play with a lot of heart and a lot of guts and see where it goes from there.”
Though 17 players took to the pitch yesterday, uncertainty surrounds three of the later arrivals.
In what appears to be the starting line-up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, Dwayne Miller tended goal, guarded by Captain Damion Lowe and regular holding midfielder Kevon Lambert in central defence, flanked by a pair of left wingbacks — Kemar Lawrence on the left and new boy Gregory Leigh on the right.
Youngster Jahshaun Anglin and England-based Daniel Johnson roamed in deep midfield behind Norman Campbell (left), Kaheem Parris (right) and Ravel Morrison (centre). Arnett Gardens Kemal Malcolm was up top.
Whitmore explained that Morrison, who is carrying a bruised right ankle, was being examined and he will more than likely come off the bench. Portmore United’s Lamar Walker will replace him at the attacking midfield role.
Morrison, who is yet to debut for Jamaica, had earlier this week explained the nature of his ankle injury.
“At the moment my ankle is still swollen. I’ve got bone bruising on the inside and stretched ligament on the outside, but to play for your country you don’t feel it, and I don’t want to turn down the opportunity. Before I had to turn down the opportunity because my passport was not ready, but I was not going to turn down this one, even injured I was still going to come.
“Hopefully in a few days, the swelling will go down, I’ll get strapped up and a few pills and I’ll be out there.”
He participated in the session and his exquisite technical abilities were evident, even as he appeared to avoid close physical contact in an effort to prevent further hurt.
Amal Knight and Chavany Willis are the other players likely to suit up, if
Michael Hector, Leon Bailey and Tyreke Magee are not deemed to have completed the obligatory quarantine period.
The result of Bobby Reid’s retaken PCR sample will determine his eligibility, also.
“It is difficult to motivate them at this particular time with the fact that there are a number of issues,” noted Whitmore. “A lot of challenges since we have been here, but again we just want to remain positive.”
And having forced to resort to players being employed in unfamiliar positions, Whitmore simply said.
“You are going to find it hard for any player to say to a coach, ‘coach I can’t play this position, or coach I can’t do this, or coach I can’t do that.’ But I can assure them that they won’t be judged on tomorrow’s game, so all I will ask them to do is to go out there, give what they got, play with heart, play with guts, and represent the country with pride.”
And when quizzed if the plan was to try to hold out for today’s game and give it an all-out go next Tuesday, the highly experienced coach was cautious.
“Deal with tomorrow’s game and see how it goes from there, because remember we have another series of tests come Monday, so we keep our fingers crossed because we don’t know what will happen then and there.”
The games are being used as part of the preparation for next season’s Concacaf Gold Cup tournament and the Fifa World Cup qualifiers.