Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter

SIMOES

Following an astonishing 2-1 defeat at the hands of Grenada in Wednesday's friendly, Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) technical director René Simoes has sought to assure nail-biting Reggae Boyz' fans that the team will put up a much better performance in Sunday's crucial World Cup qualifier against The Bahamas.

"There is no reason for a crisis now. No doubt it was a tough lesson for us and we are ashamed. But, I think that there will be some benefits from this lesson," Simoes told reporters at the Norman Manley International Airport yesterday, following the team's return.

"It's unacceptable for us to lose to Grenada. We are upset, we started the game looking like we would easily beat Grenada, but we made too many mistakes, lost focus, concentration, so all of us will have to look back at things like that," he said.

The concern voiced by fans ahead of Sunday's game stems from the fact that with a full-strength squad, which included over 15 overseas-based players, Jamaica were favoured to easily beat the Grenadians, a team 45 places below them in the FIFA world rankings.

Instead, the team stumbled to an embarrassing 1-2 loss despite taking a lead early in the first half.

While not formally expressing the sentiment, Simoes stated that underestimating opponents can pose a problem.

"Sometimes you think life is going to be easy, but it is always hard and the only thing for us to do now is to take the defeat as a valu-able lesson.

"Football is a sport that you cannot take for granted, anyone can beat you, anyone. We all did poorly in that game."

He added: "I have no doubt that this team can do very well. We will analyse our mistakes. The next game cannot be the same. I guarantee you, it will not be the same."

Lone goal

Striker Ricardo Fuller scored the lone goal for the Boyz in the 18th minute, but quick goals in the second half from key Grenadian players Shalrie Joseph and Jason Roberts floored the visiting Jamaicans.

Jamaica will kick off the qualification campaign for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa this Sunday when they tackle The Bahamas - 167th in the FIFA ranking - in a 7 p.m. encounter scheduled for the National Stadium. The teams will face each other four days later in the return leg of the qualifier at the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium.