Audley Boyd, Assistant Editor - Sport

Jamaica's Demar Phillips (No.12) loses sight of the ball that falls on to the upper portion of his back, as he collides with Mexico's Fernando Arce, who falls to the ground, during Saturday night's CONCACAF Group Two World Cup qualifier at the National Stadium. Jamaica won 1-0 on a 16th-minute strike by Ricardo Fuller. The Boyz resumed preparations last night at the National Stadium for Wednesday's must-win games against Honduras. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer

NOTING that the Reggae Boyz will be "competitive" as long as the country's best players are selected, Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) president Captain Horace Burrell expressed confidence the island will secure victory over Honduras to enhance its World Cup qualifying hopes.

He also pointed out that the coaching change that brought about the revamping of the team and its first win in the group elimination series could not have been done earlier.

"As I said before, with our strongest 11 on the field of play, we're always going to be competitive. I have made myself and the position of the federation quite clear ... The federation's policy is play our strongest 11 at all times," stated Burrell of the Jamaica senior football team, which made 10 changes to its squad for the return-leg game against CONCACAF giants Mexico that it won 1-0 at the National Stadium on Saturday.

Ignored professionals

Throughout the first half of the CONCACAF semi-final campaign, Brazilian René Simoes handled the team and ignored the majority of Reggae Boyz who play professionally with overseas-based clubs, largely in Europe and North America.

The team drew one match against Canada (1-1) and lost the other two against Mexico (3-0) and Honduras (2-0). Captain Burrell axed Simoes after the Honduras loss and installed Theodore Whitmore as the interim coach for two matches this month.

Whitmore made the changes and the team beat Mexico 1-0 to move to four points. Honduras and Mexico jointly lead with nine points, while Canada have one.

All the teams have two remaining, but only two will advance to the six-nation CONCACAF finals, that qualifies three teams automatically to the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa, and gives the fourth a chance in a home-and-away play-off against the fifth-place South American team.

"This journey is a very long one. We've started albeit late, but we still have a long way to go," Burrell said. "We're hoping to take this form into the Honduras game. It's going to be another tough assignment, but I'm confident that the Reggae Boyz will do it."

Asked if he was disappointed that the players weren't included from the outset, Burrell said: "Of course, I was very disappointed, but the corrective actions have been taken and it would not have been possible to make that change before.

"Again, I believe it would be seen as disrupting the programme. But on seeing the first three performances and the results, the federation had to change its course."

Full support

Responding to a query as to whether the coaching change was late, given the circumstances and strange selections, Burrell, pointing to Simoes' previous record, said no.

"Because as a federation, when a technical director is given a job one has to be fair, give full support and support his initiatives. Remembering that in the campaign in 1998, Professor Simoes' plans worked, culminating in the qualification to France and, therefore, we felt satisfied in giving him a free hand," Burrell said of Simoes, who was largely credited for leading Jamaica's historic qualification to the World Cup Finals in France in 1998. After working as JFF technical director for nearly six years, he left in 2000, but was brought back by Captain Burrell in January this year.

"One of the outstanding characteristics of Professor Simoes is that he's a true professional. When the decision was taken to relieve him of his responsibilities, because of the string of poor results, he accepted full responsibility and also the consequences, which further demonstrates to me his professionalism."

Regarding the recent result, he said: "I'm very satisfied that all our players gave of their best in the performance against Mexico. To top it off, having given their best, we were able to carve out the win over the giants, which is a clear indication that our players have responded. And I'm confident that they will take the same attitude into the game against Honduras on Wednesday."

Burrell