Sport

Jamaica's Reggae Boyz focus on Gold Cup

RICARDO MAKYN - National midfielder Jermaine Hue (right) tries to get around defender Newton Sterling during Jamaica's final training session at the Harbour View Mini-Stadium yesterday. The team leaves for Barbados today to compete in the final leg of the Digicel Caribbean Cup.

By AUDLEY BOYD, Assistant Sport Editor

JAMAICA'S CAPTAIN, JER-MAINE Hue, is expecting three tough matches in the finals of the Digicel Caribbean Cup which kicks off on Sunday at the Barbados National Stadium.

Speaking yesterday at the Harbour View Mini Stadium as the squad had its final training session before departing for Barbados today, Hue, scorer of six goals in the preliminary rounds, said this will be the real thing from now on.

"We can't let the performance against teams we have already played fool us. These are tougher teams," Hue said.

According to the Harbour View midfielder they will have to work hard and be focussed in their opening match against Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday.

Senior player Tyrone Marshall has high hopes for the team. "I think our chances are good. St. Lucia were a good test for us. We drew down there ... it showed good character for this young team. "French Guiana were a good team and we destroyed them," he said.

The team which departs this morning at 10 o'clock will challenge hosts Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Cuba.

They will first play Trinidad and Tobago (5 p.m. Ja time) on Sunday, Barbados (7 p.m. Ja time) on Tuesday and Cuba (5 p.m. Ja time) on Thursday.

Battering

Wendell Downswell, the team's head coach, says the players view their task as the country's last shot at redemption, given the battering the sport has taken over the past 12 months.

"They've recognised that this is the last straw in terms of qualifying for a major tournament. We need that to keep the senior programme alive," he pointed out.

His reason for saying that is the upcoming CONCACAF Gold Cup competition, which caters to the best Caribbean and Central American footballing nations.

Three of the four finalists in Barbados will win a spot in the CONCACAF flagship tournament and Downswell, even while fleetingly mentioning a need for practise matches, remains optimistic of Jamaica's chances.

"We're confident of that despite our limited preparation ... a practise match or two would have sharpened the team much more," he said.

"First and foremost to get in the top three," he stated of their goal, adding that "...secondly, we want to continue being the number one team in the Caribbean.

"We're ranked number one and we want to justify that."

Much of their hunger stems from their elimination from the World Cup qualifiers at the semi-final stage late last year.

Added to that, at least five other national teams all failed to advance to both CONCACAF and world level tournaments since 2004.

Elimination from the World Cup gave prominence to a number of these players and against lower level opposition, they have performed well enough to get to this crucial stage.

Classic match-up

"It is definitely going to be tougher," Downswell admits of the finals. "This is the premier part. This will be the true test for the team."

Summing up the opposition, Downswell observed that "on paper Trinidad (and Tobago) look to be the toughest... traditionally it has been a classic match-up (T&T and Jamaica)."

He added: "The Bajans are unpredictable, the Cubans are physical, strong and hard running."

However, Downswell admitted that the previous matches have served them well.

"The games we played in the first rounds would've put them in good stead going into this stage of the competition.

"We've an impressive record... but we'll have to be very methodical in our approach."