Coach points to fatigue for U15 Reggae Boyz troubles

It was not the best day for Jamaica’s Under-15 football team at the FIFA Under-15 World Cup and Festival in Baku, Azerbaijan, yesterday, as they lost 3-1 to European giants Portugal and 4-2 to Asian opponents Malaysia in the round of 32.

In their first match against Portugal, the Jamaicans took the lead after four minutes but conceded in the ninth and 20th minutes to trail 2-1 at half-time.

Ten minutes into the second half, Portugal added another through Joao Salgado to seal the victory.

In the second match, the young Reggae Boyz found themselves 3-0 down after only seven minutes. Although they pulled a goal back in the 11th minute, the Malaysians restored their three-goal advantage in the 24th.

However, the Jamaicans reduced the deficit to 4-2 in the 39th minute.

Assistant coach Lewin Purser said playing the tournament a man short was always going to take its toll on the players physically, and although he believed they gave everything they had, they were not at their best.

“Most of the goals today (yesterday) caught us off guard. You can see where a lot of fatigue started to take place.

“This is no fault of the players. They have been playing one man short all tournament, so we expected that at some point we would be feeling the effects of that.

“So surely, it would have taken its toll at some point, but the guys gave of their best throughout the tournament. We have learnt our lessons and we have a far way to go, but we can only get better going forward, “ he said.

Although the young Reggae Boyz can no longer win the Tier B tournament, they still have games remaining as they seek the highest possible finish, and Purser said the team is aiming to end the competition on a positive note.

“We have three more games to go. Tomorrow (today) we will have two and on Friday we have one. That means we have a chance of coming in the top 50 in the world. So we still have a good chance of coming in a good position.

“We just want to finish strong and make sure we get at least a win in this knockout stage to just close off things. We have achieved a lot already and we don’t want to settle for that. You want to do as best as you can. Finish as strong as you can, and at the same time learn what is going on.”

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com