'Good football'
JAMAICA Under-17 head coach Andrew Edwards is satisfied with his team's readiness for the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers after they won three of their four matches in the Youth Soccer Classic in Fort Lauderdale last week.
The young Reggae Boyz defeated Boca U-19 5-4; Brazil Select Under-19 4-2 and Plantation Academy Under-19 4-1 en route to the final where they lost 1-4 penalties to Miramar Under-19 after playing to a 2-2 draw in normal time.
"We are very happy with what transpired. The boys showed some really good play, especially in the third game on Saturday night. We played some really good football. I was very impressed with our level of play and the speed of play," Edwards told the Jamaica Observer.
"I think it was a real good exercise. We were able to dominate the games from the start largely due to our superior fitness and the fact that we were taken for granted, especially in the first game, because were Under-17s," Edwards noted.
"We started all of the games very fast and scored within the first five minutes, which is something that I am very happy with. We led every game at half-time and unfortunately conceded in each game in the second period. And that I think as to do with a couple of factors," he continued.
"One of those factors is the number of changes we tend to make. In fact, in all of the games, we made seven or eight changes, and that played a part in goals that we conceded. The second thing, in the second half we played at the same end of the pitch in all the games where the lighting was not as good as the other end," he theorised.
Last Thursday, the Jamaicans pitted their skills and wits with older players, defeating Boca Under-19 5-4 with Donavon Dawkins, Nicholas Nelson, Alex Marshall, Peter-Lee Vassell, and Deshane Beckford all getting on the scoresheet. Jamaica had led 4-0 at half- time before making five changes at the start of the second half.
Then, on Friday, they turned back Brazil Select Under-19 4-2 with Nicholas Nelson and Peter-Lee Vassell grabbing their second goals of the tournament. Javain Brown and Jabari Hylton were the other the scorers.
On Saturday, Jamaica beat Plantation Academy Under 19 4-1, with the in-form duo of Nicholas Nelson and Peter-Lee Vassell scoring for the third consecutive game. Defender Jahwahni Hinds and central midfielder Hakim Williams got in on the act.
"We had five players that were playing with us for the very first time. Overall, I think they did very well. One I think was out of his depths. He was far from our level. The other four were quite good. Two really stood out, and we want to keep looking at those two in Dondre Bailey from Canada and Dillon Perrin from Miami," said Edwards.
"We will break until Saturday, where we resume at Treasure Beach until January 8, before we move back to Kingston until we depart to Honduras.
"There will be no more breaking of the camp, although we might have new people coming in and out. We will keep the core group of around 14 to 16 players constant and the others will rotate as we look to bolster the group," said Edwards.
The young Reggae Boyz have been drawn in Group A in the 2015 CONCACAF U-17 Championship, where they will play host Honduras, Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago, United States of America (USA), and the winner of a play-off between Central American sides El Salvador and Guatemala.
Group B is viewed as the group of death with Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico, Canada, Haiti, and St Lucia.
The tournament will start on February 27 and end on March 15.
Jamaica has qualified for two U-17 World Cup tournaments -- in New Zealand 1999 and Mexico in 2011. Four teams will qualify for the 2015 Under-17 World Cup in Chile next year.
SOURCE: Jamaica Observer