Audley Boyd, Assistant Editor - Sport
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida:
WHILE they didn't quite achieve the desired results of handling the ball properly, keeping their opponents relatively quiet and executing well at goal, the Reggae Boyz got some invaluable insight into their state of readiness for the Digicel Caribbean Cup (DCC), when struggling to put together a game in a goalless tie against Costa Rica.
For large portions of the game, the Jamaicans struggled to possess the ball and could not make a decent chance to score in the first half of the friendly international against the Central Americans, at Fort Lauderdale's Lockhart Stadium on Wednesday night.
Without much midfield coordination, the Reggae Boyz found it hard to control play and squandered the ball through many attempts to release the final pass early, to forwards who lacked support and did not hold up the ball when they got the opportunity.
It was their last warm-up before they set out to defend their DCC title in the eight-nation finals in Martinique, which will run from November 26 to December 5.
Additionally, they never had a left-sided game, whether attacking or defending, and gave up acres of space in allowing the Costa Ricans to come forward.
To their credit, at least in the first half, they never allowed a clear scoring chance, even though Costa Rica put some dangerous crosses before goal and tried hard to penetrate, with captain Bryon Ruiz especially dangerous with his in-and-out movement between midfield and the forward line.
A much-improved Jamaica showed up for the second half, setting the tone right after the whistle with the creation of their first scoring chance, a wide-open opportunity that Shaun Francis hit straight at Costa Rica goalie Keilor Navas.With the introduction of midfielders Jason 'Dago' Morrison and Richard 'Shortman' Edwards, the Boyz took on more poise, possession and organisation to play a nice last 20 minutes.
During that period, Lovel Palmer got a clear opening from a build-up play, after Keammar Daley, one of the steadier players on the night, lifted a pass over the defence for Palmer to cut in from the flank and hit a shot against the goalpost.
It was the closest either team came to scoring, even though Costa Rica also got some good looks in the second half and were thwarted by the reliable goalie, Dwayne Miller.
Assistant coach Bradley Stewart expressed mixed reactions while evaluating their performance, but noted it was part of the learning curve.
"I think there are aspects of the game that we'd be satisfied with; the energy levels, that in particular, because ... at the end of the game, we seemed as if we had a little more, we were running, we were putting passes together, but when we evaluate, there are aspects of the game that we need to make adjustments to," Stewart said.
"We started a little on the tentative side, defending too deep; we weren't as cohesive as we'd have loved, (there were) passes going astray; we were playing penetrative passes too early, isolating the attackers from the midfielders, those are things we have to work on."
Improvements to be made
Stewart continued: "We have a few days to make those adjustments, improve on our conditioning between players and how they operate. We're not exactly happy, the stats showed that we had five opportunities on goal, only three (were) on target. That we have to improve on. The teams at the Digicel (Caribbean) level are a little bit different from the Central American level, which we believe is a good thing.
"But where the positives are, is it affords you an opportunity to make you more efficient for when we get into the Digicel Cup, so from that perspective, I think it was an absolutely beneficial game for us," he added.
Stewart, who works in tandem with Theodore 'Tappa' Whitmore, the head coach, noted differences in the style of play between starting central midfielder and those who came on as substitutes, Morrison, who was very assertive and commanding, and Edwards, but left the door open to thoughts that the roles could be altered and the hard-kicking Austin given a more attacking role, given the manner in which the subs influenced the general game control.
As Costa Rica maintained their levels and began making clearer chances, Jamaica's game evolved positively, with greater team play and efficiency, factors which all combined for a more lively and entertaining contest, as the voices of the spectators grew louder in applause.
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