Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

HEAD COACH of the Junior Reggae Boyz, Donovan Duckie, believes Jamaica can make it to the FIFA Under-20 World Cup late next year but only if corporate Jamaica comes on board and invests in the dream.

According Duckie, the squad has an abundance of talent and should it get support from corporate Jamaica, it could bring back some pride to the national programme which took a nosedive when the Senior Boyz failed to advance to the final round of CONCACAF qualifiers for 2010 South Africa World Cup.

"I think at this time sponsors in Jamaica ought to know that this is the only unit, right now, in Jamaica that can qualify for a FIFA world tournament - which is the FIFA Under-20 World Cup," Duckie said.

"As such they need to come on board and lend their full support," said Duckie, who is a former JDF man and has had successful stints at Premier League outfits St Georges and Portmore United.

Outstanding

The Junior Reggae Boyz, who were outstanding in the first rounds of Caribbean Football Union (CFU) qualifiers where they trounced Cayman Islands, Bermuda and Puerto Rico, 3-0, 4-0 and 1-0 respectively, before routing Antigua and Barbuda 4-1 and hosts Aruba 4-0, broke camp on Tuesday for the Christmas holidays.

They returned yesterday and are expected to take on Portmore United in one of two scheduled practice matches before they leave for St Vincent and Grenadines for the final round of CFU qualifiers on January 7.

The play-off will be held between January 9-14 and will see Jamaica opening their account against Haiti before going up against the Dominican Republic and then St Vincent.

On the right track

"I think at this stage we are basically on the right track," said Duckie following Tuesday's training session, the first day that new recruits, St George's College's Kemal Malcolm and St James' High's, Allan Ottey, laced up their boots.

"We will be playing a few Premier League teams, maybe Portmore and Harbour View, in the next week and a half and I think that will equip us with the experience we need to get through the next round of qualifiers," he said.

But Duckie's concerns do not lie solely in the next round of qualifiers; it is the CONCACAF play-off in March in which Jamaica will go up against the likes of Mexico, the US, Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador and possibly Honduras, that he is more worried about, and that is why he is urging sponsors to invest in the squad.

"I think we can pull through the final round of CFU qualifiers once we apply ourselves 100 per cent. However, we definitely need more quality teams to play before the March round of the qualifiers, should we get through," Duckie said.

Practice matches

"Earlier in the campaign, we asked for some practice matches from the JFF and luckily we got two, against El Salvador, which I think were good tests when we won the two-way tie 1-0.

"I also that think the qualifying zones we were exposed to in Cayman and Aruba were also good international practice. But we have got to get better and it can only happen with the help of corporate Jamaica. If we should qualify it would boost football in the country significantly," he said.

Four teams will qualify from the eight-team CONCACAF final round qualifiers to the FIFA Under-20 World Cup, which will be held in Egypt in September and October next year.