We’ll be ready for the Gold Cup
NATIONAL SENIOR men’s football team assistant coach Jerome Waite has backed the Reggae Boyz to bounce back from their defeat in the Scotiabank CFU Caribbean Cup final to Curaçao, with a better performance in next month’s CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Jamaica lost 2-1 after seeing defender Rosario Harriott’s equaliser cancelled out, within a minute of him scoring, by Elson Hooi, who got both of Curaçao’s goals at the Stade Pierre-Aliker in Fort-De-France, Martinique.
Waite instructed the team in the absence of head coach Theodore Whitmore, who was serving a touchline ban after his dismissal for arguing with officials in the previous game. Waite said that the result would have probably been different had the Reggae Boyz played with a different approach.
“It was very disappointing to lose a final,” he said. “Any final is hard to lose. I feel that we need to play the ball more on the ground and not always go direct.”
Waite said that patience is needed as he believes a better
showing will come from the team during the Gold Cup.
“I am sure that for the Gold
Cup we can improve, so we can expect greater things then from the team,” Waite said.
Harriott agrees with Waite, but went further to say that the team has many new players, who are still adjusting to playing with each other.
“Despite having a young team with a lot of new faces, I feel that we are starting to gel,” he said. “Hopefully, by the time the Gold Cup comes around, we will be able to get some positive results back on track.”
A WONDERFUL MOMENT
The Harbour View FC man, who came into the game as a substitute for the injured Shaun Francis, described scoring in the final as a “wonderful moment.
“It’s always a joy coming on and playing for your country. When I saw the injury to Shaun Francis, I reacted quickly and was mentally prepared for this moment. I felt that (scoring) would give us back the momentum we needed to get back into the game and win the title, but it did not turn out that way at all. It is disappointing not to win, because we certainly have the quality in the team.”
The Reggae Boyz will now start preparations for their opening Gold Cup game which, incidentally, sees them meeting Curaçao a second time in as many weeks in San Diego on July 9.