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JAMAICA’S SENIOR men’s national football team head coach, Theodore ‘Tappa’ Whitmore, says execution of his plans will be key to securing success when Jamaica face El Salvador in a Concacaf World Cup qualifying match at Estadio Cuscatlan in San Salvador tomorrow, beginning at 9:05 p.m.
Speaking after the Reggae Boyz’s training session in El Salvador yesterday morning Whitmore, responding to a question about difficulties associated with team selection based on ‘quality on both sides of the pitch’ at practice, responded “no … that (team selection) is supposed to always be a worry, on paper, yes”.
However, the Jamaica head coach said what will be important “is the execution on the pitch”.
He analysed: “The last two games we’ve managed to garner four points and a win and we want to build on that. So again, it’s the execution that is going to be important.”
Chasing a spot in the Qatar 2022 World Cup Finals, the Jamaica team now sits sixth in the eight-team standings on five points, the same as El Salvador.
Four of those points were earned in a 0-0 home draw against Canada and 2-0 away win over Honduras.
This followed a disastrous start, in which Jamaica claimed one point in an away 1-1 draw against Costa Rica, following losses to Mexico (1-2), Panama (0-3) and the United States (0-2).
STRIKING A BALANCE
“It is important,” Whitmore said, about finding the right balance. “We’ve to build on the last two games. Every player here understands, they know what we have to do, they know what needs to be done and that is going to be critical.”
Three teams will automatically qualify for next year’s FIFA World Cup Finals and currently Mexico (14 points), United States (11) and Canada (10) occupy those spots. The fourth-placed team will get a chance to also make the final, in a Continental play-off. Panama, on eight points, now occupy that spot ahead of Costa Rica on six. Honduras sit bottom of the Hexagonal with three points.
All the teams have completed six of their 14-match final round-fixture and Whitmore says the team, having flown into El Salvador a day earlier to boost their preparation, showed good spirit at yesterday morning’s training session.
“I’m very pleased with the enthusiasm of the players. The camaraderie is good, the vibes in the camp is good, I’m pleased with what I’ve seen this morning and looking forward to the final session tomorrow and the game,” he commented.
“We gave both teams their task and this (yesterday) afternoon we’ll get both teams’ feedback when Sanford (video analyst Sanford Carabin) breaks down the team, so we’ll get their feedback. We want to hear from the players if the objective was somewhat met based on what they were tasked with, so this (yesterday) afternoon we’ll have the findings,” Whitmore shared.
Noting that the chemistry has improved since the Reggae Boyz started this final round Concacaf World Cup campaign in September, Whitmore said, “it’s now for us to find the right balance and execute on match day”.
Asked if the chemistry was far better now, Whitmore responded: “Yes, no doubt about it. Once we can find the right balance and the players go out there and execute, then we shouldn’t have any problems.”
audley.boyd@gleanerjm.com
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