Gordon sees fight to the finish in Group G

Jamaica may be on the verge of qualifying for the knockout round of the Under-17 Concacaf Championship but national under-17 head coach Merron Gordon expects the road to be much tougher than most experts think, stressing concentration from his charges despite an opening day victory.

Jamaica face Guadeloupe in their second Group G game today at 5 p.m. at the Estadio Mateo Flores Stadium in Guatemala, two days removed after defeating Cuba 4-2 in their group opener on Sunday. The victory came despite the majority of the team arriving late Friday night, a day later than scheduled because of documentation issues.

Orane Watson led the way with a brace in the 56th and 75th while Jahmani Bell opened the scoring with a brilliant volley inside the box in the 22nd minute. Ashton Gordon added one in the 70th minute. Didier Reinoso scored twice in the 78th and 89th minutes for Cuba.

In the build-up to their opener, Gordon had identified goalscoring as a concern and was pleased with how well the team managed to create and execute their chances.

“I am seeing maturity in the boys in terms of how they are growing. Goals were a concern at one point for these boys but scoring four goals and creating several chances (is good). And I don’t want anyone to think this Cuban team was a walkover. They are very good in the final third but I think we are strong in areas that they are weak and that’s what we used to counter them and get the result that was needed,” Gordon said ahead of today’s match against Guadeloupe.

Jamaica currently lead the group on goal difference despite being level on points with Costa Rica who edged out Guadeloupe 2-1 in their opener on Sunday evening 2-1. Gordon was adamant about the danger that Guadeloupe possess despite the defeat and believes that the French-speaking eastern Caribbean island will prove to be a tough obstacle in their path to secure qualification to the next round.

(Guadeloupe are) not a bad team. Costa Rica got two early goals but they settled and fought. It is going to be a tight group,” Gordon said. “I knew at this age group, the football (gap) is very close. So we need to do what we have to do tactically and technically to get the desired result.”

He is hoping to be able to close the game out much better than they did against Cuba after allowing two late goals. The coach had to make late substitutions because of injuries and players who were on yellow cards.

“I was slightly disappointed with the last 10 to 15 minutes of the game. We didn’t see out the game as best as we could,” Gordon said. (But) I think we really worked hard for this one. We are going to do some recovery work (yesterday) and some tactical work and get ready for Guadeloupe.

daniel.wheeler@gleanerjm.com