Audley Boyd, Assistant Editor - Sport

A huge "missed opportunity". That's how Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) president, Captain Horace Burrell, views another near, but hurtful elimination from World Cup qualifying for the young Reggae Boyz.

The Jamaicans, playing in Group A of the age-group CONCACAF Championship, needed only a draw to advance to the semi-finals and World Cup when they went up against Honduras in their last preliminary match.

But they conceded a goal in first-half injury time and went downhill afterwards, to lose 3-0 and drop below the second position that would have guaranteed them a place in the Under-20 FIFA World Championship, to be held in Egypt from September 25 to October 16 later this year.

"We're extremely disappointed that we were not able to qualify this team. It was very disappointing from the standpoint that they were definitely a talented group and one which had got a fair amount of international exposure," noted Burrell.

"Getting these youngsters at this time in a World Cup tournament would certainly provide the nucleus for the 2014 qualifying campaign," he added. "Qualifying would also lift the confidence of these young players."

While making it clear that the JFF would not have received any money had the team qualified, Burrell went on to state that the youngsters actually stood to benefit in a much bigger way.

No grant

"At the youth level, there's no grant. FIFA would normally cover the airfare, hotel accommodation and meals for the tournament," stated Burrell, who is also a FIFA official.

"What FIFA does is to give them exposure, put them on the world stage where they would be seen by scouts from all over the world, which would give everyone an opportunity to showcase his talent and no doubt, those who exhibit exceptional qualities would then give themselves a chance to be selected by possibly some of the top clubs in world football."

He added: "The concentration therefore at this level, as far as FIFA is concerned, is creating an opportunity, rather than offer financial rewards. It was a huge missed opportunity."

Jamaica had already qualified teams to the FIFA Under-20 World Championship in 2001 in Argentina in 1999 at the Under-17 level in New Zealand and the seniors Reggae Boyz for France '98.

As a consequence, a number of players, at all the levels, had received contract opportunities.

The country has also experienced a number of near misses in FIFA qualification competitions since, including some of the players on this team when they were barely eked out at the Under-17 level. There had been others in recent times, highlighted by the senior team's elimination on goal difference at the semi-final stage last year.

The Under-20 group had played six international warm-up matches in the last fortnight leading into the CONCACAF Finals. Burrell said while it cost the already cash-strapped JFF a fair bit, such preparation was par for the course.

Trickle-down effect

"I would never want to quantify the sum spent. This is also going to be the case when you miss an opportunity like this," he said. "Much of the scarce resource was spent on this team in trying to qualify, which is our responsibility as a federation. So when we fail to really make use of this opportunity, it is bound to have a trickle-down effect on the rest of our programmes.

"However, we will continue to expose them as best as we can ... because developing football in countries like Jamaica will never earn profits. It's to give the players an opportunity to develop their skill and to earn a livelihood through contracts for themselves and their families," Burrell pointed out. "And in terms of the improvement of the general standard, it would enable the country also to be more competitive at the highest levels."

Continuing, Burrell said an evaluation of the young Reggae Boyz's performance will be done by the JFF's technical committee, following which there could be staff changes.

"We will, however, do a post-mortem, following which remedial action will be taken, which the federation will take the necessary remedial action," remarked Burrell. "We will await the report from the technical committee, who I have tasked to do a detailed evaluation of the entire programme, including the coaching staff.

"We remain steadfast in our efforts to continue to develop and improve the standard of football played in Jamaica. These type of things (World Cup failure) will increase the challenges that we have, but we remain determined and steadfast."

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

National Under-20 head coach Donovan Duckie said despite the country's failure to qualify for the Under-20 World Cup, he was proud of his players for the great effort they displayed in Trinidad and Tobago earlier this month.

"I think that none of the teams in the qualifiers outclassed us, but I believe that the moment got the better of us," he said. "I believe that it came down to the team that held its composure and nerves because this was the difference at the crucial points," said Duckie.

The junior Reggae Boyz, who entered the tournament as one of the favourites, lost 4-0 to Honduras in their last Group A game of the eight-nation CONCACAF Cham-pionship which eliminated them from the competition at the preliminary stage.

Very talented

"These players are very talented and I think that with the right experience and being exposed to a lot more high-quality tournaments such as games against the top teams in CONCACAF, they can certainly make to it the highest level," he said.

The Jamaicans went into the contest against Honduras as the second-place team in Group A and would have qualified for the World Cup had they held out for a draw.

The result pushed Honduras into second, and thus the Central Americans guaranteed themselves a place in the World Youth Cup later this year.

Also advancing were Group A winners the United States, who had beaten the Young Boyz 3-0 in their opening game.

The Jamaicans tackled Honduras without captain Andre Darby and scoring ace Dever Orgill, both of whom were red-carded in the previous match they won 2-1 over El Salvador.

Duckie added that his players did not respond as well as they had done in previous games.

Below-par performance

"I thought the stage got the better of some of our key players because they just did not turn up and their performances were below par and this was what contributed to us not advancing to the World Cup finals," he said.

"I think that the two red cards ... in the game against El Salvador were also a big factor to us losing to the Hondurans," he noted.

He also lamented the soft goal that the team conceded just before half-time. He said the field was a very big one and chasing the game was going to be difficult, so the Jamaicans were exposed to a lot of counter-attacks while searching for the equaliser.

"This was a risk that we had to take and I thought we did well because we created eight chances and but we did not put any away and I thought this was the defining moment of the game," he said.

Keisha Hill, Staff Reporter

Jamaica needed only a draw against Honduras to qualify for the Under-20 World Youth Cup in Egypt later this year.

However, they were whipped 4-0 by the Central Americans in their final match of the CONCACAF Championship held recently in Trinidad and Tobago and the players' dreams were shattered.

A number of key players who embarked on the Under-20 journey were also members of the national Under-17 squad that failed to qualify for the 2007 FIFA World Cup.

One player who captured the public's imagination at that time with his brilliance in midfield and goalscoring prowess was John-Ross Doyley.

Doyley was part of the starting 11 in both encounters and is disappointed at not qualifying for either of the tournaments.

The 2007 Under-17 World Cup qualifiers, which were held in Jamaica, saw the Jamaicans playing Canada, Costa Rico, the United States and in the final game were defeated 1-0 by Trinidad and Tobago.

A constant terror to defenders, the former Glenmuir High student, Doyley, stated that a lot of work went into their preparations on both occasions and it was disheartening that they were unsuccessful.

A lot of effort

"I am very disappointed that we did not qualify on both occasions. I think we put out a lot of effort but just wasn't successful," Doyley said.

The 19-year-old who now plays for Portmore United stated that it has been a difficult pill to swallow after being around the players for such a long time.

Doyley was influential in the 1-0 victory over Canada 1-0 in their last tune-up match before departing for the final round of youth World Cup qualifiers in Trinidad and Tobago.

His curling left-foot shot just past the hour mark helped ease the pressure off the young Reggae Boyz and injected them with a vital dose of confidence going into the crucial games.

The young Boyz went down 3-0 to the United States in their opening game, but rallied to a 2-1 win over El Salvador.

In their final encounter, the Boyz were booted out of the competition, beaten 4-0 by Honduras.

"We were a bit nervous as would have been expected. But we didn't think the teams we played were bigger than us. We played Mexico, Canada and the United States, so we knew we could play in the big league," Doyley stated.

Great experience

Talented left-footed playmaker Romario Campbell was also a member of both squads. Currently plying his trade with Digicel Premier League Club Harbour View United, Campbell stated that it was a great experience for him.

"We trained and worked hard," Campbell said. "We played in the tournament with the expectation that we would qualify," he said.

Campbell said though disappointed twice, tournaments were just stepping stones in his career.

"In the Under-17 qualifiers, we needed only a win to go through and we lost the match 1-0. And coming back to the Under-20 and knowing that we needed to win or draw it is very disappointing," Campbell said.

In the game against El Salvador, Campbell latched on to a pass from Alonzo Adlam in the eighth minute to help secure Jamaica's 2-1 win.

These setbacks, he said, won't affect his football endeavours as he would put these experiences behind him and look forward to making the senior Reggae Boyz squad in the near future.

Other members of the Under-20 squad who also played in the Under-17 qualifiers include goalkeeper Andre Blake, Andre Steele, Christopher Banner, Damaine Thompson, Dever Orgill, Kenneil Hyde and Shavor Brown.