Not good enough – Ricketts
- JFF boss points finger at technical mistakes for World Cup failure - Looks to blood young players ahead of Nations Cup
Published:Sunday | February 6, 2022 | 12:12 AMRobert Bailey - Gleaner Writer
HAVING WATCHED the Reggae Boyz’s slim chances of qualifying for this year’s FIFA World Cup go up in smoke last Wednesday night, president of the Jamaica Football Federation(JFF) Michael Ricketts has pointed to bad luck and a lack of concentration for the country’s failure in the tournament.
The Jamaicans were beaten 1-0 by Costa Rica in their must-win game inside the National Stadium on Wednesday, the defeat leaving the Reggae Boyz in seventh place with seven points after 11 matches and three games remaining in the competition.
Canada lead the eight-team tournament with 25 points, followed by the United States and Mexico on 21 each, Panama, 17, Costa Rica, 16, and El Salvador on nine.
The top-three teams will qualify for the World Cup while the fourth-place nation will secure a play-off spot against the Oceania Football Confederation winner.
Ricketts told The Gleaner the federation was very disappointed with the team throughout the qualifiers.
“I think, from a technical standpoint, we would have made some mistakes,” said Ricketts.
“There were some games where we seem to have lacked concentration,” he said.
“We conceded some very late goals in some crucial games, and that probably would have derailed the programme, and I am sure that all of Jamaica would have been disappointed,” he said.
PLAYED IN PATCHES
The JFF’s boss underscored that the Reggae Boyz played in patches in the tournament and their performances were not up to par at times in the competition.
Ricketts also said the Reggae Boyz were very unlucky as well, especially in the home game against the United States where defender Damion Lowe’s headed goal in the 84th minute was ruled out for a foul by the referee.
However, the replay showed afterwards that the goal should have stood, with the match ending 1-1 inside the National Stadium.
“The truth is that the performances wasn’t bad but the results are disappointing and that has been throughout the campaign,” Ricketts said.
“We have not gotten too many breaks at all, nothing seems to have gone our way,” he said.
“The first half of this game [against Costa Rica] would have given us some hope, not for this campaign but for getting a national unit together,” Ricketts noted.
The JFF boss pointed out that they are now focusing on ending the campaign on a high by winning their remaining matches in the competition.
“The Nations Cup will be played later on this year. So we will certainly use that as an opportunity to expose some of our young players,” Ricketts said.