Boyz hunt revenge against Saudis today
Published:Tuesday | November 17, 2020 | 12:14 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) President Michael Ricketts expects a much better display from the Reggae Boyz when they face Saudi Arabia in the second of their two friendly games at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium at 11:30 a.m. Jamaica time today.
Jamaica went down 3-0 in the opening game on Saturday.
However, the team played four debutants (Ravel Morrison, Norman Campbell, Daniel Johnson, and Greg Leigh), and also had only one training session ahead of the game because of COVID-19 cases in the camp.
But Ricketts says the squad is more settled now.
“I certainly expect us to get better,” he said. “A number of these players were playing for the first time, and in a very long time.
“We went into the game without even a proper training session. So I think we will get better in this second game; we should do a bit better,” he said.
NO PROPER TRAINING
Defender Kemar Lawrence, whose handball lead to a penalty from which one of the goals were scored on Saturday, echoed that sentiment.
“Now that we have our legs, we have had a couple training sessions under us, we are going to push for the victory,” he said.
“Saturday, it just didn’t come off the way we wanted it to, but the camp is positive and there is no doubt.”
General Secretary Dalton Wint became the fifth member of the Jamaica contingent to test positive for the virus.
The others are four players and a coach, whose identities were not shared by the JFF.
One player, whose test was returned when en route to Saudi Arabia, was kept in isolation in England but has returned home to complete his quarantine.
The four members in Saudi Arabia are said to be in isolation in another section of the team’s hotel and will serve a 10-day quarantine period before they are retested.
The individuals, who are all asymptomatic, will then have to wait for the return of a negative result before they will be permitted to leave isolation, and the country.
“I’m doing alright. I am coping, so I am good,” Wint told The Gleaner. “Everybody is in good spirits and they are coping.”