YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon – Jamaica’s assistant coach Merron Gordon says the Reggae Boyz 1-1 draw in a friendly against World Cup-bound Cameroon at an almost-packed Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium on Wednesday gives the team “something to build on” ahead of CONCACAF Nations League and Gold Cup commitments next year.
Justin McMaster, a 23-year-old winger who plays for Minnesota United in the US Major League Soccer, gave Jamaica the lead on 59 minutes in wet conditions, but the hosts equalised through substitute Djawal Kaiba with a deflected effort in the 74th minute, both teams having gone into the match without many of their top players because it was outside the international window.
“The players really stuck in and with a little bit more composure we could have won this game,” Gordon told the Jamaica Observer afterwards.
“With a little bit of luck we probably would have won this game because it was a deflected shot on goal, but such is football. But this is something to build on,” he added.
Gordon, assistant to Icelandic head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson, said while the Reggae Boyz began tentatively, they came into their own as the match wore on.
“We started off a bit slowly. We spoke about it at half-time and I think the boys took the instructions well,” explained Gordon.
“I think we got it right in the second half. I think how the boys played, especially in a game like this, in front of this 40,000-plus crowd was really, really good, especially with mostly local-based players.”
Hallgrimsson said after just his second match in charge he was proud of the team’s effort despite obvious signs of a lack of cohesion.
“I think this was a good result for Jamaica because [so] early in the season a lot of the players don’t have a lot of games under their belts,” he pointed out.
“They were playing in a difficult environment – probably the biggest crowd most of the players have played [in front of] … so pretty intimidating circumstances.
“I think we can be happy with the result, but I’m [happier] with the players and how they behaved, how professional they were in the camp and how much they took in of what we were trying to teach them.”
-CMC
