Young Boyz begin quest today for top honours
By Sean Williams (Jamaica Observer)
Jamaica’s Under-17 World Cup-chasing footballers will take another step in pursuit of that dream when they take on Bermuda in their Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Finals game at the Ato Boldon Stadium here today.
Kick-off is at 5:00 pm (4:00 pm Jamaica time).
In the feature of the Group A double-header, hosts Trinidad and Tobago will battle Haiti at 7:30 pm (6:30 pm Jamaica time).
On the other side of town at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Group B action will be in high gear as Cuba, Guadeloupe, Curacao and Suriname get down to business in the two-group, eight-nation play-offs.
Jamaica coach Andrew Edwards will go with his 4-3-3 formation that he used in the CFU preliminaries in the US Virgin Islands in July.
Starting in goal is Tajay Griffiths, while Kendall Edwards and Jamoi Topey will marshall the centre of defence. Completing the backline are Damani Osei (left-back) and Kiamani Gibbons.
The midfield will be led by captain Jeremy Verley, aided by Nickashe Murray and Blake White, while the three-pronged strike force is made up of Nickque Daley, Raewin Senior and Kaheem Parris.
With Haiti to come on Sunday and hosts Trinidad and Tobago next Tuesday in the remaining group matches, Edwards expects a positive start against Bermuda, who he has scouted by way of video material.
“The approach has to be very positive, stick to our plan and to be patient as well. Also, we have to be diligent with our work.
“We have scouted the team based on the three games they played in the preliminaries (in St Vincent). We realised that they don’t defend well, especially in the wide areas and their heading is quite weak, but going forward they tend to attack quickly and they definitely know how to find the back of the net and that is something we need to be mindful of,” Edwards told the
Jamaica Observer.
The coach is confident of the three points, boasting of the firepower in his arsenal.
“We are prepared and we are ready, and once we keep a clean sheet, we are not worried about the three points as we will definitely score as we have the firepower to get the ball in the back of the net,” Edwards noted.
In yesterday’s training session at the Ato Boldon training field where the team was taken through an intense tactical session, Edwards said he was pleased for the most part with the response of the players.
“Overall the response was good and we achieved the target of communicating an idea,” he said.
Jamaica captain Verley believes it’s crucial in the general scheme of things to get the campaign off to a resounding start.
“Like we did in the first part of the qualification, we come into this tournament with goals and expectations. We are going into tomorrow’s (today’s) game to start those goals in order to complete them, and that is to go out there and put on a good show to put us on top of the group from the get-go.
“Going into the game tomorrow (today), we are ready and I know we are prepared and I know we have what it takes for us to go out there and do our best…we will be going out there to play hard and to play good football,” said the Milton Academy freshman.
Meanwhile, Bermuda coach Ray Jones is wary that today his team comes up against an awesome opposition by his own admission, but he remains positive that his players will stand brave in the face of danger.
“Our expectation for each game is to have a positive outcome, but realistically Jamaica have more experience in these competitions. But we have been at it for a while and we fear no one and we will show up and give our best and hopefully the chips fall for the best,” he said shortly after guiding his charges in a training session at the Ato Boldon training pitch yesterday.
The top-five teams from the CFU Finals will book places to CONCACAF Under-17 Championship to be held April 21-May 7 in Panama City.
That would be the four semi-finalists and the best third-placed team.
Four teams from the CONCACAF tournament will earn places to the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in India next summer.