Head coach of Reggae Boyz Theodore Whitmore. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

Theodore 'Tappa' Whitmore, coach of Jamaica's Reggae Boyz, said yesterday that the team's first round exit from the CONCACAF Gold Cup, currently on the way in the United States is unacceptable.

Whitmore told The Gleaner following his arrival at the Norman Manley International Airport along with members of the team yesterday, that the players failed to work as a unit.

"I am very disappointed, but out of every bad comes good, and we just have to learn from our mistakes," said Whitmore. I think that there is no excuse for our performances because we needed to stand up and fight for what we wanted."

The Jamaicans who placed third in Group A on three points, had been waiting anxiously since Friday to confirm whether they would have advanced in the competition as one of the best two third-place spots in the quarter-finals. However, their hopes were dashed when Panama slammed Nicaragua 4-0 in Group C on Sunday to grab the last remaining third-place spot.

Let down

"I think that we did not deserve to be in this position, but that is part of football and we feel very let down," said Whitmore. "A lot of things happened both on and off the field, non-footballing issues, but that is no reason to be in the position, we are in now."

Whitmore, who took over the head coaching duties from John Barnes last month, added that man for man they had better players when compared to other teams in the tournament.

"I think we have no explanation for us to be in this position because of the quality players that we had compared to other teams in the competition, there are just no excuses," he added.

"You are going to hear all sorts of excuses but if we had won our games there wouldn't have been any excuses ..." Whitmore noted.

Also returning home yesterday were senior players, captain Ricardo Gardner, Ricardo Fuller, Rodolph Austin, Claude Davis and Jermaine Johnson.

The quarter-final round of the Gold Cup kicks off on Saturday with Canada facing Honduras and hosts United States playing Panama in Philadelphia.