Gordon, players to learn from Austria tourney
Published:Sunday | August 21, 2022 | 12:08 AMDaniel Wheeler - Staff Reporter
IN THE absence of interim national senior men’s head coach Paul Hall, Merron Gordon says that taking charge of the Reggae Boyz for the upcoming four-team invitational tournament in Austria is as much an opportunity for him as it is for the players to prove themselves at the international level.
Gordon will oversee the squad, mostly comprised of locally based players for the tournament where Qatar, Morocco and Ghana, who have qualified for the 2022 World Cup which starts in November, are down to compete.
Jamaica was scheduled to start their campaign yesterday against Ghana but that game was cancelled because of Ghana’s late arrival and the decision by Gordon to not play the game on another day. Jamaica will open their campaign against Morocco on Tuesday.
With Hall reportedly close to an agreement to become the permanent head coach, Gordon says that he is using the tournament to evolve as a coach while hoping to prepare the team for the opportunity to make their case for senior call-ups during the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying cycle.
“I’m the assistant coach. I will remain in that position. I want to continue to grow and learn so that in future if and when this (role) is put in front of me, I can grab it with both hands,” Gordon said in a press conference on Friday.
“But for now, I am just concentrating on this tournament to try and get these local boys and give them a great opportunity to come and make the senior team.”
Difficulties
Twenty-six of the 27 players called up for the tournament are now in camp in Vienna as three more players arrived yesterday. Veteran defender Adrian Mariappa is scheduled to arrive today. While acknowledging the difficulties the team had in adjusting to the conditions, Gordon noted improved sharpness in training on Friday as they were using the additional time to better prepare for Tuesday’s opener.
Gordon said he did not want to increase the pressure on the players in their battle to be a part of the immediate future core being built for next year’s competitions, such as the Concacaf Nations League as well as the Gold Cup. However, he says that he wants a confident display from the team in applying the tactical lessons they have learnt so far.
“The most important thing is for the boys to go out there and do as best as they can. As I said to them, ‘don’t come here just because you were called. Talent brought you here, you have to prove through the work that you deserve to be here.’ I think in terms of tactical preparation they are grasping what we want them to do on the offence and the defence. I don’t want us to put additional pressure on them because these are local boys that want to prove themselves,” Gordon said.
“Hopefully, you might never know, people might see something and get international contracts.”
With the bonus of competing against teams that will play in the World Cup later this year in Qatar, Gordon said that the young players will benefit from knowing the standard they need to reach.
“In a competition like this where you have three teams going to the World Cup and we are going to get to play them with some boys who are just being exposed to international football, I think is a good thing. It is as real as it can get,” Gordon said.
“This is a good benchmark for them and this is a good learning tool for them also to know exactly the pace at which football is played at this level.”