NEW JERSEY, United States:

Jamaica's mission to raise the country's senior national football team from recent doldrums got off to a satisfactory launch on Wednesday night, when the Reggae Boyz played to a spirited scoreless draw against World Cup hopeful Ecuador at the Giants Stadium here.

Despite failing to capitalise on several scoring opportunities while giving their South American opponents an almost equal share, coach Theodore Whitmore identified several positives in a game he had earlier called a step towards rebuilding with freshly injected youth and pride.

"It was an excellent performance from the players," said Whitmore after Jamaica's match-up against a team which recently beat Argentina and drew with Brazil in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers. "You saw effort, commitment and the whole balance."

Precision

Not on show, however, was precision in front of goal, a problem which has haunted Jamaica in recent internationals, including last month's CONCACAF Gold Cup which the Boyz exited early after scoring one goal in three games.

"If we keep going over the chances, from the Gold Cup, that's been haunting us," the coach said. "I think that is the most important part of our game where we need to get organised."

Starting with glaring misses from forwards Devon Hodges and Dane Richards within the first 10 minutes, when both failed to beat Ecuador's goalkeeper Jose Fancisco Cevallos after facing him one on one, Jamaica's finishing lacked conviction.

In the first half alone the Boyz came close several more times, including Khari Stephenson's powerful drive from the top of the penalty area, which was pushed away by Cevallos, who later also denied Luton Shelton from close in.

Meanwhile, Jamaica's defence encountered its own share of difficulties as Ecuador attacked with equal vigour, mainly through quick strikes from the flanks followed by dangerous crosses that frequently left Jamaica scrambling to hold the line.

Ecuador hit the crossbar twice in the game and by the end of the first half had forced goalkeeper Dwayne Miller to make several saves.

Coach disappointed

Ecuador's coach Sixto Vizuete left the game disappointed after failing to secure a win in front of the 23,523 crowd, which overwhelmingly backed his team. However, he was left impressed by Jamaica's aggressiveness, speed and movement throughout the 90 minutes.

"Jamaica is a good team," said Vizuete through a translator. "They really got into the game."

The Boyz appeared to have relished the challenge and when it was over they allowed themselves a pat on the back, especially after making numerous substitutions without losing much intensity and playing with 10 men in the dying stages following Navion Boyd's ejection in the 87th minute.

"Going into the game we knew what Ecuador was all about and that they're gonna come out and perform well because they have good players," said captain Shavar Thomas, who was partnered in central defence by Jermaine Taylor, who missed the last Digicel Premier League season in a club contract dispute, and Dicoy Williams, who was playing his first game at any level for Jamaica.

"But at the same time we knew the game wasn't won before it was played. We had some young guys, some inexperienced too, but with the experienced guys we have we stuck with it and did the job."

According to Thomas, 0-0 was "a fair scoreline", but others believed Jamaica could take further reward from the team's effort.

"We were hungry to play," said Richards, who was playing on his club's home ground. "We performed well and everybody is happy."

Anxious

Whitmore was chief among them, especially ahead of Sunday's away game to St Kitts. The coach, convinced Jamaica "can play against anybody", is now anxious to see how the Boyz follow through on their latest success. Among his concerns is the continuous growth of pride and discipline of the national team, which took a jolt in the lead-up and during the Gold Cup.

"We just want to take the transformation from here (Ecuador) to there (St Kitts)," he said, "to put up a good show because once the Jamaica team play, once you put on that shirt, it must mean something."