‘The boys were brave’

Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz are in danger of not winning a home World Cup qualifier for the first time since 2014. But interim senior men’s head coach Paul Hall says that he is more focused on continuing to develop the core that will challenge for regional and international success in the future.

The Reggae Boyz drew 1-1 with El Salvador in their World Cup qualifying game on Thursday, continuing their winless run at the National Stadium for this qualifying cycle. Eriq Zavaleta scored in the 21st minute before Andre Gray equalised for Jamaica in the 72nd minute, picking up their third point at the National Stadium in six attempts.

Already eliminated from qualifying, the Jamaican team is trying to avoid a winless qualifying record at home similar to their 2014 campaign, when they finished with three draws and two defeats. Unlike that 2014 campaign, Jamaica will not end winless in this cycle having notched their only victory against Honduras in San Pedro Sula on October 13, 2021.

However, Hall said that he was more concerned about the team’s performance against El Salvador which he praised despite the result and ending the campaign on a winning note is secondary to the long-term view of the project.

“Performance is key. If they didn’t come out and perform and we got a win, I would have been upset because now we are building on something. If we win the next two games, we cannot qualify for the World Cup,” Hall said. “What we can do is we can build a structure, if we can get some young lads to be focused on trying to play football for Jamaica at a very young age, then we can build something.”

Hall said that it was an attacking style that was on display on Thursday which was the most encouraging, with the only disappointment being that they could not reward the crowd at the National Stadium with a victory.

“I’m really pleased because not only did we make chances but we played in a style that was befitting of the Jamaican football team, of how I want to see them play. The boys were brave. The boys got the ball down, they were really trying to play forward. They were using everybody. There was no ego on that football pitch,” Hall said. “ Yes, we did squander chances but we did put the ball in the back of the net and they kept going. And that is all you can ask for.”

On a sour note, Jamaica conceded their first goal at home against El Salvador in 30 years when they lost 2-0 on November 22, 1992, in the 1994 World Cup qualifying campaign.

However, Hall says that his goals for the remaining two games are to ensure that they can consistently execute their style of play while ensuring team synergy that will help them in the next cycle which will include the Nations League which starts this summer.

“Yes, it is lovely to win and I want to win. But am I concerned (about a winless home record)? No. Is it weighing on my brain? No. We should have won out there tonight (Thursday). I think we will do our best to go out there to win because we try to win football matches every game we play,” Hall said. “(But) we have World Cups to try and qualify for and we have got young players who we have to try and bring on as fast as we can. So that is weighing on my mind. I want to bring a group of players together and we are working hard off the pitch to make those boys play like brothers, like family and it showed itself tonight.”

Jamaica will play Canada tomorrow afternoon in Toronto before finishing their campaign on Wednesday at the National Stadium against Honduras.

daniel.wheeler@gleanerjm.com