The Jamaica National football team will parade more new faces when it takes to the National Stadium to face Trinidad and Tobago Soca Warriors in the second of their two-game friendly international series.
Kick-off is set for 7:00 pm today.
Trinidad and Tobago won the first game 1-0 inside the Montego Bay Sports Complex at Catherine Half in St James last Saturday courtesy of a Reon Moore 67th-minute left-footed strike against the run of play.
“We have decided already that we want to see everyone in the squad play and we want to give everyone a chance to show what they can do and they deserve it,” Hallgrimsson told reporters during Monday’s training session at the game venue.
“We will see new faces again, new players playing with each other and you could see in the match in Montego Bay the understanding between the players was not perfect… somebody wanted it short, the play came long; somebody wanted it long, the pass came short, so not only technical mistakes but also misunderstanding between players and that happens when you have new players, especially new players and young players playing together for the first time.
“You should never say after losing a game that it is not a problem, but it is more about giving these players a chance to show what they can do… if they can be a part of the next (training) camp, or the Mexico camp, the Gold Cup. Can they be a part of that or are they not ready? Do we need to wait a year for them to be ready?”
Despite the youthfulness and inexperience, the coach readily admits that the group has responded admirably in this training camp,
“They are very professional in everything that they do, it’s the first national team camp for a lot of the players, so I would give them a lot of credit for how they have behaved, how they have trained, on meetings, we are just trying to build something to explain our emphasis in the football, so yes I’ve been really happy with the players.”
As regards the rivals, the coach noted that while he gives them credit, he was far more concerned with his charges and how they acquitted themselves.
“Trinidad and Tobago won so they are probably happy with their performance in the match. I’m not particularly worried about what they are doing, I have enough with what we are doing, so we are just focusing on Jamaica and the players for us.
“It’s a competitive team, Trinidad, so I give them a lot of credit. They were organized, they were difficult to break down and we have to give them credit for the way they played,” he ended.
Trinidad and Tobago are down to face The Bahamas in Nassau on March 24 and Nicaragua three days later at the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Bacolet, Tobago, on March 27 in the Nations League, while the Reggae Boyz have an important visit to Mexico City to face the regional powerhouses on March 26 before hosting Guatemala on April 15.
