Reggae Boyz head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson believes balance will be a key factor if his team is to continue on its journey at the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup Tournament in the US.
At 5:06 pm (EST) Sunday, Jamaica, the runner-up of Group A behind the US, faces Group D winner Guatemala inside the TQL Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The winner advances to the semi-finals where it plays Mexico, who defeated Costa Rica 2-0 in Saturday’s quarter-finals.
“We are looking for a total balance in the team, it’s not about our attackers, it’s not about our midfielders, we would just like to improve our total balance as a team to both attacking and defending,” stated Hallgrimsson during Saturday’s pre-game press conference.
An integral part of maintaining balance is the midfield, particularly the twin pivot of Kevon Lambert and Joel Latibeaudiere and Hallgrimsson made no secrets about his admiration of Lambert.
“We mentioned Kevon before in press conferences. I like players that are given an opportunity, maybe unexpectedly, and they grab the chance, they earn their place in the team and that is what you like to see as a coach,” he said.
“In general we are improving as a team and that’s the most important, so we are attacking better as a team, we are defending better as a team and that is the ultimate goal of course.”
Hallgrimsson will more than likely call on the return of captain Andre Blake, who was rested for the last game, a 5-0 beating of St Kitts and Nevis.
Central defender Damion Lowe, who scored against the US in the tournament’s opener, and who was rested last time out, especially being on a yellow card caution, is also expected to return to join Di’Shon Bernard in central defence.
The regular attackers should also reunite with Bobby Reid, Demarai Gray, Michail Antonio and Leon Bailey given the green light to get goals in attack.
But Hallgrimsson is aware of the dangers posed by the central Americans, who displayed resilience to come back twice in their must-win encounter against Guadeloupe in the final group game for a surprise 3-2 win.
“We have been impressed with Guatemala and just to put into context, they topped a group with Canada and Guadeloupe, a surprisingly good team, so a lot of credit to them and their coach, they have done really well,” Hallgrimsson said.
“For us, the things we are looking at is the transition game; they are really quick from defence to attack. They are really direct when they have the ball… some quick players, technical players … it’s the directness that opponents should look for when they play against Guatemala; the tempo in their game and is a lot of characters in this team. It’s something you look at, both on and off the pitch, with the people of Guatemala supporting them with their hearts. That is something that we respect and we are ready to face when we meet them.”
Jamaica enjoys a perfect four wins from as many games record in the Gold Cup but for midfielder Lambert that particular stat, while nice to look at, means absolutely nothing when the first whistle is called on Sunday.
“Record for us is like history, so we can look back at it and say we have a good record against them in the past and stuff like that, but none of it matters on the day in the game if we don’t go out there and do the job if we don’t go out there and put the work in, so I mean it’s good to look at past stats or past records, history… for me, we are not really focused on the past, we are focused on what’s ahead of us and we just want to get the job done.”
