Jamaica face Canada in Under-17 friendly games
THE JAMAICA Football Federation (JFF) has finalised plans for two friendly international games between Jamaica’s Under-17 and Canada’s Under-17 team here later this month.
Following on the heels of two friendly games against the United States of America (USA), which Jamaica lost 3-0 on November 2 and 4-0 on November 6, the Jamaicans will continue preparation for the CONCACAF Under-17 tournament next year that serves as a FIFA World Cup Under-17 qualification.
A release from the JFF stated that: “President of the Jamaica Football Federation Captain Horace Burrell is pleased to announce that in keeping with the federation’s commitment to give quality preparation opportunities to the National Under17 team, Canada’s National Under-17 men’s team will be in Jamaica November 25-29 for two practice games.”
The two teams will play at the Wembley Centre of Excellence in Clarendon on Sunday, November 27 and Winchester Park, St George’s College, on November 29.
EDWARDS
“These games follow on the recent two international games involving the USA Under 17 team which allowed the technical staff to see the Jamaican team against quality opposition as they prepare for the CONCACAF round of qualifiers to be held in April 2017,” the release concluded.
Jamaica’s national Under-17 head coach Andrew Edwards says that he is looking forward to what he expects to be tough games against Canada.
“We know that Canada is another tough opposition. They are not as good as the USA team, but they have a good programme and resources, so we are looking forward to both games,” Edwards told The Gleaner yesterday.
“It is important to show better results than those against USA recently. The results are always a good morale boost, but we always have aims and objectives for these friendly games,” he also said.
Edwards indicated that there won’t be a lot of changes for the upcoming friendly games against Canada. “We may be looking at a few new players but not a lot for the games.”
Meanwhile, the Canada soccer men’s national Under-17 coach Paul Stalteri says it will be two good games for his team.
“These will be two good international matches against a team we watched in (Caribbean) qualifying earlier this year,” said Stalteri on their website. “They are a typical Jamaican team: fast, strong, and physical. We will need to adapt quickly in a hot environment.”