‘Ready for whomever’

National senior men’s football team head coach Theodore Whitmore says that regardless of their Concacaf Gold Cup quarter-final opponent, he is targeting another run to the final as Jamaica conclude Group C today.

The Reggae Boyz will face Costa Rica at the Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Florida, at 6 p.m. Jamaica time. Both teams have secured their quarter-final places and the match will determine who finishes top of the group, as well as their opponents in the next round. While Costa Rica and Jamaica are tied on six points and a +3 goal difference, ‘Los Ticos’ lead the group on the goals scored tiebreaker with five compared to Jamaica’s four. The winner of the group will face Canada, the Group B runners-up, in the last eight, while six-time champions and Group B winners the United States await the group runners-up.

“We have a job to do,” Whitmore said. “It doesn’t really matter who we play. Our objective is to play six games. We have gone two (already),” Whitmore said. “We have met our objective to qualify for the quarter-finals. We have a game to play against Costa Rica. We are going to do the best [we can] and then take it from there.”

While Jamaica will want to have a much more manageable path towards the final, football analyst Michael Hall says that based on the strength of the USA team, group positioning may not make a difference in their chances of another deep run.

NO DIFFERENCE

“This USA team is not their strongest team,” he said. “Many of their brighter stars and well-known players remained in Europe with their respective clubs. It’s a very inexperienced USA with guys having less than 10 caps. I don’t really know that it makes too much of a difference who we play. We have to play one of them. “Maybe psychologically [it will make a difference] because the USA has been a sort of a bogey team for us throughout the years and we may feel a little bit more comfortable going up against Canada. But quite frankly, I don’t think it really makes much of a difference (who we play).”

Former national defender Shavar Thomas shares that sentiment, saying that Jamaica must prove themselves worthy champions regardless of where their knockout journey starts.

“To be the best you have to beat the best,” he said. “If we fear playing those teams at any stage of competition play, then why are we on the field to compete? With the strength of our squad, it doesn’t matter where we finish – first or second,” Thomas said. “If teams are qualifying for the quarter-finals, then there are no weak teams.”

A win against Costa Rica is the only result that would see the Boyz win the group. Costa Rica only need a draw to secure the top spot. Despite back-to-back wins, Whitmore has not been satisfied with the team’s performance and has demanded improvement. Hall said the team has to play with more cohesion and hopes Watford’s Andre Gray will play a major role in executing that.

“I think his style of play would have been better suited to be paired with either Cory Burke or Shamar Nicholson (against Guadeloupe). His hold up play is excellent and I think the other guys would play off him a lot better,” Hall said. “I am hoping that Gray gets a chance against Costa Rica to see how that kind of combination sets itself up.”

A win for Jamaica would also be another milestone for Whitmore as he could equal René Simões for the most wins in national senior men’s programme history. Whitmore earned his 54th win against Guadeloupe on Friday and is one victory away from matching Simões (55), who guided Jamaica to their only FIFA World Cup finals appearance in 1998.

daniel.wheeler@gleanerjm.com

Group C standings entering today

Played Wins Draw Loss Goals for Goals against Goal difference Points

Costa Rica 2 2 0 0 5 2 3 6

Jamaica 2 2 0 0 4 1 3 6

Guadeloupe 2 0 0 2 2 5 -3 0

Suriname 2 0 0 2 1 4 -3 0