It is so funny to me whenever Jamaica is playing another team and I read the game report, the first thing that alway crack me up about the article is - "young team." Jamaica is always playing against a "Young American" team, "young Colombian" team, "young Swedish" team. Mind you, there might only be two players on that team that are "young." Does anyone remember the 22 year old, "teenaged phenom" named Landon Donavon? Well, years from now we will still be reading about "young Freddy Adu" and "young Jozy Altidore"-at the tender age of 25, but that is ok. Our Jamaican clip and paste journalists will just grab it and run with it but that is cool. I bet you, not one of the news media people covering this game between Jamaica and El Salvador, will ever mention "YOUNG" and "Jamaica team" in the same article.(If you notice I did not say, sentence. Athletic, skillful, fast, speedy and the good old "aggressive" maybe, but never a "young team."-Ah gone
JAMAICA SQUADS:(Vs EL SALVADOR)
Donovan Ricketts(31 years old) Shawn Sawyers (31 years old) O'Brian Woodbine (20 years old?) Jermaine Taylor (22 years old) Adrian Reid (22 years old) Lance Laing (20 years old) Keniel Moodie (22 years old) Nathan Koo-Boothe (22 years old) Ricardo Cousins (20 years old?) Hugh Howell (22 years old) JeVaughn Watson- ?? Eric Vernan(20 years old?) John-Ross Doyley(18 years old?) Evan Taylor (18 or 19 years old) Kavin Bryan (24 years old) Keammar Daley(20 years old?) James Thomas(20 years old?) Omar Cummings (26 years old) Andy Williams (30 years old) Wollery Wolfe (27 Years old)
_________________________ "Victory" in wars are never about who is right or wrong but more about who is left standing.
Yeah the youth them haffi get a run now and then fi asses them growth,but mi can tell you supp'n anyhow wi lose to 117 ranked El Salvador wi ranking get sheg worse.
The reports are scarce boy. If Jamaica had lost, the reports would be all over the place. Here you have a "YOUNG" Jamaica team, an "INEXPERIENCED" Jamaica team and not one word........ By the way this is the same (BIG GREY TONE) El Salvador that knocked Panama out of the World Cup qualifying..........
There are a couple of dudes over at Big Soccer talking about how they balled Jamaica (WOW!!)
_________________________ "Victory" in wars are never about who is right or wrong but more about who is left standing.
This look like it was the Captain Donavon Ricketts' show......Still no mention of the "Young Team."
Quote:
El Salvador, Jamaica tie 0-0
FRISCO, Texas (AP)—El Salvador and Jamaica tied 0-0 in an international friendly Saturday.
Both teams were playing their final exhibition match to get ready for the third round of World Cup qualifying, which begins next month.
Backed by the vast majority of the crowd, El Salvador controlled play for most of the contest, directing numerous shots at—or almost at—the Jamaican goal, but goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts kept them off the scoreboard.
In the 14th minute, captain Alfredo Pacheco received a nice cross from Shawn Martin near the left post but volleyed it just wide. Martin had another chance in the 43rd minute, drilling a shot from the left corner of the penalty box, but Ricketts lunged to bat it away.
Ricketts also knocked away a scorching free kick from Christian Castillo from the right flank in first half stoppage time.
Martin just missed on two golden opportunities early in the second half, as his free kick from 30 yards out rolled just wide in the 48th minute. Seven minutes later, his cross from the left side of the box found a charging Rodolfo Zaleya, but his header went just over the crossbar.
But after El Salvador’s Rudis Corrales launched a shot from the edge of the box just over the bar in the 62nd minute, Jamaica began to turn the tide, pressing with several chances of their own.
In the 65th minute, Omar Cummings, who plays for Colorado in the MLS, was in the clear, but his volley was denied by a diving save from El Salvador goalkeeper Miguel Montes.
Seven minutes after that, Javaughn Watson chipped a shot from the left side of the box over Montes, but the ball rolled across the goal mouth and out the other side. Third round qualifying begins on Aug. 20, when Jamaica faces Canada in Group 2 and El Salvador takes on Costa Rica in Group 3. The top two finishers in each of the three four-team groups advance to the final stage, where three countries will earn a spot in South Africa 2010, while a fourth will play a South American squad in a one-game playoff for another spot.
Neither nation made it to the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Jamaica last qualified in 1998 while El Salvador is seeking its first trip to the World Cup since 1982.
Edited by LINCOLN (07/26/0809:41 PM)
_________________________ "Victory" in wars are never about who is right or wrong but more about who is left standing.
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Simoes 'very pleased' with performance published: Monday | July 28, 2008
Gordon Williams, Gleaner Writer
René Simoes ... the national jersey can be heavy.
FRISCO, Texas:
Jamaica's Reggae Boyz battled some testing conditions, including nerves, blistering heat and an overwhelming disadvantage in crowd support, to secure a scoreless draw against El Salvador at the Pizza Hut Park here last Saturday.
Playing in temperatures which hovered at the 100 degree mark and before only a handful of Jamaicans among the estimated 10,000-plus spectators, the Boyz earned praises from their coach and the respect of their Central American opponents in possibly Jamaica's final warm-up game before the semi-final round of World Cup qualifiers begin on August 20 against Canada.
"I think these young players we have, they delivered their all today," said a, happy technical director René Simoes after the football friendly.
"This is an international experience that they have to learn how to control their nerves and how they control their anxiety ... I'm very pleased with their performance."
El Salvador's coach, Carlos De Los Cobos, admitted through a translator that while his team appeared more composed in the early going, it was less so later on in the match as Jamaica grew in confidence and took a tighter grip on proceedings.
"We faced a complicated rival in Jamaica," De Los Cobos said. "They played a good second half and they caused us a few problems."
BRUTAL FOE
Yet Jamaica and El Salvador faced another more brutal foe throughout the match, which caused coaches to use stoppages in play as not just sideline strategy sessions, but also pit stops for rehydrating players.
"Both teams felt the heat, even the referee," Simoes said. "They finished the game exhausted. But we finished the game better than them."
"We are more comfortable in cooler conditions," De Los Cobos admitted. "The first half was very hard in the high heat."
El Salvador fielded a team much closer in composition to what they expect to show in World Cup qualifiers next month.
Going into battle
Jamaica, on the other hand, sent mostly local-based players into battle. Only five of Saturday's starters appeared in two qualifiers last month against The Bahamas. Many had little or no previous experience at the senior international level, but they never lost their awareness.
"Never were they disorganised in the game," Simoes said.
The Reggae Boyz started off brightly. In the second minute, El Salvador made a hash of a high cross, but midfielder Wolry Wolfe failed to put Jamaica in front by looping his shot over the crossbar.
El Salvador answered almost immediately, but Salvatore Coreas booted high as well.
As the first half wore on, El Salvador settled into a better passing rhythm in midfield, as Coreas, Christian Castillo and Ramon Sanchez worked the ball around, trying to keep it away from Jamaica's Wolfe, Evan Taylor, Ricardo Cousins and Keneil Moodie in the centre of the park.
The Central Americans were also keen to thread their attacks through both flanks, effectively using captain Alfredo Pacheco on the left and Shawn Martin to send searching crosses into the penalty area.
REAL SPARKLE
Jamaica countered occasionally, but it was left to newcomer Omar Cummings, who partnered captain Andy Williams up front, to inject any real sparkle into the Boyz's attacks. Neither goalkeeper, Donovan Ricketts for Jamaica and Miguel Montes of El Salvador, was seriously troubled early, as shots by both teams flew off target.
Midway the half, Williams' clever chip beat Montes, but landed on top of the net.
Yet El Salvador came closest before half-time when a Pacheco's cross forced Ricketts full stretch to parry. The keeper was called on again, punching away Castillo's in-swinging free kick. But Cummings once again proved to be a handful, slicing through two defenders just before the break then rolling a well-timed pass to the onrushing Cousins. However, his right-foot shot was blocked and cleared away.
Jamaica's youthful frustration showed too, as the teenaged Taylor picked up a yellow card in the 44th minute for a clumsy challenge on striker Rudis Corrales. Substitute Jevaughn Watson would also receive a caution late in the game.
PRESSING
Jamaica came out pressing their opponents in the second half, when both teams turned for help from the substitute's bench. But it was El Salvador which should have gone ahead in the 56th minute. Another cross by Pacheco was met by a diving header from sub Rodolfo Zelaya that flew over the crossbar.
Two minutes later, another Pacheco diagonal ball found the unmarked Martin at the back post. He missed the mark from close range.
But Jamaica bounced back with the best chance of the game in the 64th minute.
Cummings was sent clear by a pass which wrong-footed his marker, but his push to the far post was plucked from the air by goalkeeper Montes to keep the score tied.
"You have to give respect to the Jamaican team," admitted De Los Cobos. "Jamaica is a strong national team. Very fast."
Apparently, the young Boyz are quick learners too.
TEAMS:
Jamaica: Donovan Ricketts, Obrian Woodbine, Jermaine Taylor, Adrian Reid, Lance Laing (86th - Keammar Daley), Evan Taylor, Keneil Moodie, Wolry Wolfe (71st - Eric Vernon), Andy Williams (75th - Kavin Bryan), Ricardo Cousins (58th - Jevaughn Watson) and Omar Cummings.
Subs not used: Shawn Sawyers, Nathan Koo-Boothe, James Thomas, John-Ross Doyley and Hugh Howell.
El Salvador: Miguel Montes, Marvin Gonzalez (78th - Oscar Jiminez), Luis Anaya, Manuel Salazar, Shawn Martin, Alfredo Pacheco, Ramon Sanchez, Salvador Coreas (68th - Osael Romero), Christian Castillo (85th - Ramon Flores), Rudis Corrales and Williams Reyes (46th - Rodolfo Zelaya).
Subs not used: Juan Jose Gomez, Jonathan Barrios, Alexander Escobar, Jose Orlando Martinez, Emerson Umana and Rolando Torres.
Gordon Williams is a Jamaican journalist based in the United States
