Football/Soccer - Haiti beat Jamaica 2-1 to advance to CONCACAF Olympic Final Round Qualification
Under 23 Boyz face massive task
published: Saturday | October 13, 2007
Jamaica's Under-23 footballers face a mighty task, having to beat homesters Haiti by a whopping four clear goals to advance from Group H in the final round Caribbean Football Union (C.F.U.) Olympic qualifying play-off series in Port-Au-Prince today.
The Bahamas registered a stunning 1-0 victory over Jamaica that virtually knocked the young Reggae Boyz, coached by Wendell Downswell, out of the Olympic qualifying race at the Silvio Cator Stadium Thursday night.
Only the group winners will go forward in the triangular series and in Tuesday's opening game, Haiti had thrashed the Bahamas 6-0.
Technical director of Jamaica's football, Velibor 'Bora' Milutinovic, left Jamaica in time to join the team ahead of today's match. While his expertise will be welcome, it is the finishing that so deserted the team against Bahamas that will matter.
In Thursday's match, Lesly St. Fleur struck a late goal for the Bahamians to burn the Jamaicans who, with half of the squad coming from their Pan American Games silver medal-winning unit in Brazil this summer, peppered the Bahamians' defence frequently but failed to score.
Haiti-born St. Fleur hit the winning goal for the Bahamas in the 84th minute to leave Jamaica with the highly improbable task of defeating hosts Haiti by four clear goals - in the last group match today - to advance to the CONCACAF final round of qualifying.
shot unleashed
On a counter-attacking play, St. Fleur broke free down the right flank and after a resolute dribble into the box, unleashed a shot that beat Dwayne Kerr.
The Bahamians, outgunned by the home side two days earlier, got spirited support from the local fans and played with determination for their Brazilian coach Neider Dos Santos.
"We deserved to win, football is about scoring goals so we scored one and Jamaica scored nil,Ó he told reporters.
Elsewhere, Cuba secured their spot in the CONCACAF play-offs when they beat Grenada 2-1 in Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday evening to secure Group G honours.
The group winners will advance to the CONCACAF Men's Under-23 Champion-ship along with three Central American teams, plus Canada, Mexico and USA with venue and dates to be announced.
The CONCACAF Under-23 Championship will qualify two teams to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
Four clear goals! Young Boyz face huge task against Haiti
Saturday, October 13, 2007
PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti - Jamaica will make three changes to their starting 11 going into today's crucial Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Zone H Olympic qualifying second round game against hosts Haiti at the Stade Sylvio Cator in Port Au Prince, starting at 4:00 pm.
Jamaica, who lost 0-1 to the Bahamas in Thursday's match, must beat the host and group leaders by four clear goals to get the lone qualifying spot to advance to the final round stage along with Cuba, who won Group G being played simultaneously in Trinidad, as well as three Central American teams, Canada, Mexico and the USA at a venue to be named. Two teams will advance to Beijing for the Olympics football tournament.
Haiti lead the group on goal difference over the Bahamas on three points, while Jamaica are yet to open their account.
Haiti have a goal differential of six after beating Bahamas by that margin on Tuesday; the Bahamians have a minus-five goal difference, and have no hopes of advancing.
In an effort to improve the offensive thrust of the team, coach Wendell Downswell will bring in Meadhaven's Norman Bailey to replace his club teammate Keammar Daley, while Belgian-based Rafe Wolfe will make way for August Town's central defender Ajuran Brown, who will partner Keneil Moodie in front of Dwayne Miller, who replaces Duwayne Kerr in goal.
Bailey will go to central midfield where he will rotate duties with Ricardo Cousins.
Downswell has also shifted around several players with Obrian Woodbine, who started at right back on Thursday, moving to right midfield, while team captain Rudolph Austin will shift to right back.
Eric Vernon, who played on the right side of the midfield on Thursday, will be pushed forward to partner Luton Shelton in the two-man strike force and Downswell is hoping the speedy pair will create problems for the Haitian defence.
The other starters will be left back Troy Smith and Nicholy Finlayson.
Wolfe's benching, he explained, was not a demotion, but really to give the team "more options off the bench" as the former Portmore player can play several positions on the field.
Downswell explained his decisions by saying, "we want to make the formation a little more attacking while playing very tight at the back, 'cause we really have no choice than to go out and to get an early goal as we need to get four goals in 90 minutes".
The coach was under no illusions what kind of welcome will be awaiting the Jamaican team when they walk out on the pitch at the 54-year-old facility later today. He expects the atmosphere will be "extremely hostile, but this will be really a test of character for the team".
He said the team was "extremely disappointed at (Thursday's) loss, we did not score a goal (but the) stats showed we created 22 chances, 12 one-on-ones with the goalkeeper", but added they can't come down too much on the players "as on any given day we are absolutely certain that with the strike force we have, we should have scored two or three goals, just chose to have bad day".
Today, Downswell is expecting "a good, controlled performance where time management will be a key factor for us as to when we get the all-important first goal and try to consolidate from there".
The Jamaicans went through an hour-long session at the game venue yesterday and it was obvious what was at stake as the players showed a lot more intensity than the previous session.
National technical director Velibor 'Bora' Milutinovic, who arrived in Haiti yesterday, was at the session, but after helping the goalkeepers warmup, watched from the sidelines.
The 18,000-capacity venue is expected to be rocking from well before the start as the home fans will be expecting to cruise through and advance to the next round.
The Jamaicans are not giving up, however, and as the coaching staff and management have been trying to get the team to understand since the end of the Bahamas game, they were not out of contention.
While a four-goal margin, though seemingly improbable against a big, strong, hard-running Haitian team, the Jamaicans are not giving up and a lot will be expected of Shelton and company.
If the Jamaicans can create and convert even a third of their chances from Thursday, it will be a walk in the park. However, a repeat from Thursday could see them crash out of contention after going undefeated in the first round of qualifying in Aruba.
The mood in the camp - sombre and quiet on Thursday night - picked up somewhat yesterday, especially after a quick pep talk from head of delegation, Carlton 'Spanner' Dennis and coach Downswell after breakfast.
The coach also had one-on-one meetings with players prior to going out to training in the afternoon.
The Haitian offence is expected to be led by Leonel Saint Preux and Alain Vubert, who scored two goals each in Tuesday's rout, which was played under soggy conditions. The weather here has been unpredictable as after it rained all day Tuesday and Wednesday, cleared up for Thursday and all of yesterday, but the rains came back last night just after the training session ended.
Missing captain Jermaine Taylor would have been a liability, says Downswell
Missing captain Jermaine Taylor would have been a liability, says Downswell
Saturday, October 13, 2007
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Central defender Jermaine Taylor, who captained the Jamaican Olympic team at the start of the first round of the Olympic Qualifying in Aruba, is a noticeable absentee at the second round here in Port-Au-Prince.
The Harbour View player is widely regarded as one of the top players in the country and was expected to take his place in the team as they try to qualify for the third and final stage.
When questioned as to the player's absence, coach Wendell Downswell told Sporting World yesterday that Taylor's and Waterhouse's Mario Harrison's physical condition was not where the coaching staff wanted it to be and thus they were not chosen for this tour.
Downswell said the players had not done enough to maintain their fitness levels and as such they would be a liability if they were taken on tour and were not able to perform as had happened in their recent tournaments.
"Their conditions are suspect," Downswell explained. Taylor, he said, had been taken on "several tours, three tours now and he broke down. We can only take 18 players and when we looked at him and Mario, we were not satisfied with their (physical) conditioning, as it relates to the team and that is the main reason."
There has been talk in some circles about Taylor's attitude on the recent tour to Aruba, but Downswell dismissed it. "I wouldn't say that was a major concern, it is just the conditioning. He did not play on the Asia tour and he broke down in training when we had them in Jamaica, after we played Harbour View (in a practice match)."
Taylor did play the first game against Indonesia on the gruelling four-nation tour of Asia in late June through to early July, but injury forced him out of the remaining three games against Vietnam, Malaysia and Iran.
Downswell said they got just "30 minutes out of him" in Aruba, adding that "we brought on Mario for 30 minutes (in Aruba), but it was a disaster in terms of their physical conditioning".
When asked if the clubs were to be blamed for the players' lack of conditioning, the coach said not so. "We can't blame clubs, players must learn that when they are in the national programme they have a responsibility to keep themselves in good physical condition.
"Look at the national programme, how many times we have them each year? And if they form an integral part of the programme it is their responsibility that they are in good physical condition at all times," he added.
However, having cited Taylor's physical conditioning as the main reason for his absence from this team, it remains a mystery why the Harbour View Football Club was approached by the JFF to make the player available for selection to the senior Reggae Boyz squad which was scheduled to play an international friendly against Ghana.
In the inimitably colourful language of the Jamaican folk culture, 'bad luck wuss dan obeah'. We suspect that outgoing president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), Mr Crenston Boxhill, and his team would have been thinking along those lines when word came through late Thursday that Jamaica's Under-23 football team had crashed 0-1 to the Bahamas in a Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Olympic qualifying game in Haiti.
The result means that Jamaica's young footballers, of whom much was expected, are now left with only an outside chance of making it to the Olympic Games in Beijing, China next year.
To qualify, the Jamaicans must now beat hosts Haiti by four clear goals in Port-Au-Prince later today. Given that the Haitians are a power in regional football and have already proven their worth by defeating the Bahamians 6-0, that is probably a task too great.
Mr Boxhill and his team have deservedly, in our view, been blamed for a number of things that have gone wrong in Jamaica's football since they took office in 2003. But from this distance, this newspaper does not believe they should be held at fault for this latest disaster.
It would seem to us that regardless of the shortcomings in preparation, a full-strength Jamaica team, whether at age-group or senior level, should have the wherewithal to beat the Bahamas, which has very little standing in regional football.
The report in yesterday's edition, which describes how the young Reggae Boyz dominated while missing numerous chances, then lost their composure as the game progressed and anxiety set in, appeared to reflect one of those freakish events that occasionally occur in sport, and indeed, in life.
Of course, such events are more liable to happen when there is overconfidence and complacency.
It seems almost inevitable that some players, and even members of the management and coaching staff, would have been - perhaps unconsciously - looking past the lowly Bahamians to the anticipated much greater challenge of the Haitians today.
The cruel irony is that a good number of these Under-23 players would have been part of that Under-20 squad which made the nation proud in mid-year, winning an unlikely silver medal at the Pan American Games. And further that Mr Downswell was the much-acclaimed coach then.
Regardless of whether they deserve blame or not, Thursday evening's shock result in Port-Au-Prince will go down as one more hammer blow to the failing record of Mr Boxhill's team.
We suspect that for Mr Boxhill, like the rest of the football fraternity, November 4 when he finally hands over the reins to incoming JFF president, Captain Horace Burrell, can't come too soon.
WITH LESS than a month before a new administration take over the country's football, the programme suffered another big blow yesterday when the Under-23 team was beaten 2-1 by Haiti and eliminated from qualification for next year's Olympic Games in Beijing.
The defeat ended the Reggae Boyz bid to get past yet another Caribbean stage of tournament qualification.
Going into the game, Jamaica, who were shocked by the Bahamas 1-0 on Thursday, needed to beat hosts Haiti by four clear goals to advance, but failed in their attempt.
The Young Boyz were the first to get on the scoresheet when Rudolph Austin netted in the 18th minute, a lead which the team held to the break.
However, despite numerous attacks on goal, Jamaica were unable to totally breakdown the tight Haitian defence in the first half and were to rue their mistakes soon after the resumption of play.
The Haitians, not resting on their overall goal-advantage created by a 6-0 thumping of the Bahamas, took the attack to Jamaica and, minutes after the break, drew level when Bidrece Azor struck and all but guaranteed the Haitians a berth in the CONCACAF round of Olympic qualifiers.
They then added another later in the half to seal Jamaica's fate.
Haiti will be joined at the CONCACAF Under-23 Championships by Caribbean second-round Group G winners Cuba, three Central American teams and Canada, Mexico and the United States at venues and dates yet to be announced.
The top two teams from the CONCACAF championships will qualify for Beijing
Boyz booted! . lose 1-2 against Haiti to end Olympic dream
Boyz booted! . lose 1-2 against Haiti to end Olympic dream
Sunday, October 14, 2007
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Jamaica's dream of an historic qualification to the Olympic football tournament died last night at the Stade Sylvio Cator after they gave up a first-half lead to lose 1-2 to hosts Haiti in their CFU Group H second-round tournament here.
Captain Rudolph Austin's brilliant 19th-minute freekick gave the Jamaicans the lead, quieting a raucous capacity stadium, but goals from Bidrece Azor in the 48th and substitute Fabrice Noel in the 76th killed off Jamaica's dreams.
Haiti won the group with maximum six points and advanced to join Cuba, who won Group G played in Trinidad, as well as Canada, Mexico and the United States in the CONCACAF Men's U-23 Championship at a venue and dates to
be announced.
The CONCACAF U-23 Championship will qualify two teams to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
The Bahamas, who upstaged Jamaica at the same venue, 1-0, two days earlier, finished second with three points, while Jamaica ended without a point.
Jamaica's coach Wendell Downswell was understandably disappointed and admitted the loss, the second of the week, was "a difficult one".
He said they made "some tactical moves and made some changes (which) worked in the early part, but we just could not get that second goal."
Further adjustments, he said, were made in the second half, "but the Haiti team just dropped behind the ball, got very defensive as they knew what was needed for them to advance; tactically they played well," Downswell said.
"We had to push people forward; we had no choice as we realised we needed goals and got more offensive and probably suffered the consequences," he said, adding that "in a game like this we had to gamble somewhere down the line to see if we could get the goals".
The ghost of the loss to the Bahamas came back to haunt the Reggae Boyz last night, the coach said, as if they had managed to convert their chances, things could have been different.
"On any given day any one of our attacking players would have scored one or two goals, but we won't blame the players, it was just a bad day for us."
As expected, the venue was rocking two hours before kick-off when the Jamaican contingent arrived and by the start, the 18,000-seater arena was a sea of red, save for one solitary Jamaican flag high up in the bleachers on the north side.
Under overcast and muggy conditions, the Haitians - who made one change from the team that beat Bahamas 6-0 on Tuesday, bringing in Louis Serge for Noel - pushed Jamaica back into their own half with a slick, short-passing game.
The Jamaicans were forced to make an early change when goalkeeper Dwayne Miller was stretchered off after a Haitian player stepped in his shin and he was replaced by first-game starter Duwayne Kerr.
Austin, who was shifted from central defence to right back, hushed the loud Haitian crowd when his powerful curling freekick from just outside the box on the left side flew past the hapless Peterson Occenat into the top right-hand corner of the goal.
This seemed to spur the Haitians into action and they surged forward, creating two good chances - the first in the 27th saw Kerr being beaten by a cross from the left wing, but Leonel St Preux headed it off the crossbar.
Kerr was called on to make two fine saves late in the half - in the 39th when he went to his left to hold the ball with both hands, and two minutes later when he grabbed the ball on the second attempt between two Haitian forwards.
The hosts drew level three minutes after the resumption when a diving header from Azor appeared to deflect off another player and off the underside of the bar into the goal.
Jamaica responded by throwing more players forward and Rafe Wolfe, who had replaced Norman Bailey at half-time, and Ricardo Cousins joined Luton Shelton and Eric Vernon as they came forward to reclaim the lead.
Haiti, on the other hand, seemed comfortable with the score and tried to slow down the game every chance they got.
They sealed Jamaica's fate in the 76th when they made a move down the right flank and Kerr rushed off his line but was stranded. The ball was swung into the six-yard box and Noel, who had replaced Reginald Velentim five minutes earlier, kicked into an unprotected goal.
The score could have been wider but for another two good saves from Kerr to keep his team in the contest.
Teams:
Haiti - Peterson Occenat, Judelien Aveska, Jean Paulin, Jean Sony Alcena, Alain Vubert, Peterson Joseph (Noel Fabrice -61), Leonel St-Preux (Reginald Valentim-71), Bidrece Azor, Lesly Fellinga, Louis Serge, Friston Jean-Baptiste
Subs not used: O Saurel, S Doleans, E Raymond, M Marc, S Norde, J Marcelin
Booked- Azor-48th, St Preux-57,
Jamaica - Dwayne Miller (Duwayne Kerr-10th), Keneil Moodie, Ajuran Brown, Troy Smith, Rodolph Austin, Obrian Woodbine (Keammar Daley-83rd), Ricardo Cousins, Nicholoy Findlayson, Norman Bailey (Rafe Wolfe-46th), Eric Vernon, Luton Shelton
Subs not used: A Reid, X Virgo, D Davis, B Bayliss.
Cuba finished top of Caribbean preliminary Group G to secure the first berth to the final CONCACAF Olympic men's qualifying round for the country since 1984. They were in top form through their two matches as they edged hosts Trinidad & Tobago and tiny islanders Grenada.
First off the Leones del Caribe put in a fine performance against neighbours T&T in which the outstanding Roberto Linares Yalmacida scored one and Leonel Duarte added another. An own goal rounded out the scoring in an emphatic 3-0 win.
Yalmacida was on target again in a testy 2-1 win over Grenada. Lyndon Antoine's equaliser was the first that the rampaging Cubans had conceded in 389 minutes of Caribbean qualifying for Beijing 2008, and they responded like true champions when Yalmacida grabbed the winner (and his second of the match) in the 67th minute. With four goals in two games, the Havana-based man will be one to watch when Cuba meet big boys USA, Mexico and Canada in the final round.
Haiti, whose senior side are current champions of the Caribbean, put on a similarly dominant performance to their Cuban neighbours over in the Group H triangular, where they slipped past a disappointing Jamaica and the Bahamas.
Hosts Haiti hot up
The Haitians, who hosted the triangular, got off to the best possible start when Leonel Saint Preux and Alain Vubert both grabbed braces in a comprehensive 6-0 win over the Bahamas. And needing only a draw in their second match on Saturday against a Jamaican outfit that somehow lost out to minnows Bahamas in their opener, Haiti played a defensive and effective counterattacking game that resulted in a 2-1 win.
"The Haitians just dropped behind the ball, got very defensive as they knew what was needed for them to advance, tactically they played well," downcast Jamaica coach Wendell Downswell said after seeing his side beaten by goals from Bidrece Azor and Fabrice Noel. "In a game like this we had to gamble somewhere down the line to see if we could get the goals."
Cuba and Haiti will both be fancying their chances when they meet up with the region's 'big boys' in the final round of qualifying for Beijing 2008, at a venue and date yet to be confirmed. The eight-team round robin will also feature three Central American teams, Canada, Mexico and the USA.
The two top finishers will book passage to the Olympic Football Tournament next summer in the Far East.
Haiti secures place in CONCACAF Final Round; Grenada top Trinidad & Tobago
Haiti secures place in CONCACAF Final Round; Grenada top Trinidad & Tobago
13.10.07 - Haiti secured a place for the first time in history to the Final Round of the 2008 CONCACAF Under-23 Championship after defeating visiting Jamaica and taking the first place in the Caribbean Second Round Group H at the Stade Silvio Cator in Port-au-Prince on Saturday.
Rudolph Austin gave Jamaica (0-2-0, 0 Points) the lead in the 19th minute but Haiti (2-0-0, 6 Points) got goals from Bridrece Azor and Fabrice Noel in the 48th and 76th minutes, respectively, for the 2:1 victory.
Elsewhere in the Caribbean Second Round on Saturday, two goals by Lyndon Antoine and another from Shane Rennie led Grenada (1-1-0, 3 Points) to a 3:2 win over the hosts, Trinidad & Tobago (0-2-0, 0 Points) in the Group G finale at the Marvin Lee Stadium in Macoya.
Haiti will be joined at the CONCACAF U-23 Championship by the Caribbean Second Round Group G winner Cuba, three Central American teams, Canada, Mexico and USA at a venue and dates to be announced, where two teams will qualify to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
2008 CONCACAF UNDER-23 CHAMPIONSHIP
Caribbean Qualification – Second Round
Group G – Macoya, TRINIDAD & TOBAGO; Marvin Lee Stadium
The Bahamas Men's U-23 National Team stunned Jamaica 1-0 on Thursday in the Caribean Football Union Group-H Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
After losing heavily to Haiti on Tuesday 6-0, the team had it all to play for, and play they did. The team weathered Jamaica's onslaught in a first half that saw Jamaica outshoot the Bahamas considerably, somewhere around 35-2.
But the match certainly lived up to the catch phrase "A game of two halves". After a less than friendly half time talk, Technical Director Neider Dos Santos' boys came out and played the game of their lives.
The Bahamas matched wits and ability with the Jamaican team, and truly deserving of the effort given, got the goal that mattered in the 80th minute.
The "stunner" came in the 83rd minute from forward Lesley St. Fleur, who after some good inter passing found him-self open and coolly slotted home the match winner.
The goal sent a wave of emotion through the entire Bahamian delegation in Haiti. The Haitian crowd also cheered team Bahamas in attendance.
The result will also send a shock wave through the entire Caribbean, and sound a warning that The Bahamas is on the move.
Technical Director Neider Dos Santos' work ethics with the squad, and the effort put in by the entire technical staff and players, shows just what The Bahamas is capable of.
Bahamas Football Association President Anton Sealey was awash with emotions on learning the news of the result.
"This is a fantastic result for Bahamian football and shows what we are capable of if we truly commit to the task at hand."
Sealey and his team of executives took some strong and controversial decisions to put The Bahamas on its present track and feels that this result lends credibility to the work being put in at all levels.
"This result is not something that has happened overnight, but rather as a result of decisions made to focus on youth some 10 years ago, to put much of the association's effort and attention into developing the game over that same period, and to the committed effort of many coaches, parents, administrators and players, buying into the idea and working along with it," said Sealey.
The result of the U-23's in Haiti against such formidable opposition as Jamaica is a tremendous one and every coach, player and administrator involved deserved hearty congratulations for a job well done. The team returned to The Bahamas on Friday.
Jamaica's dream of an historic qualification to the Olympic football tournament died on Saturday night at the Stade Sylvio Cator, after they gave up a first-half lead to lose 1-2 to hosts Haiti in their CFU Group H second-round tournament here.
Captain Rudolph Austin's brilliant 19th-minute freekick gave the Jamaicans the lead, quieting a raucous capacity stadium, but goals from Bidrece Azor in the 48th and substitute Fabrice Noel in the 76th killed off Jamaica's dreams.
Haiti won the group with maximum six points and advanced to join Cuba, who won Group G played in Trinidad, as well as Canada, Mexico and the United States in the CONCACAF Men's U-23 Championship at a venue and dates to be announced.
The CONCACAF U-23 Championship will qualify two teams to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
The Bahamas, who upstaged Jamaica at the same venue, 1-0, two days earlier, finished second with three points, while Jamaica ended without a point. Jamaica's coach Wendell Downswell was understandably disappointed and admitted the loss, the second of the week, was "a difficult one".
The full traveling delegation for The Bahamas to Haiti is as follows:
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