Tony Becca
WHEN I was a boy and even when I was much older, I never ever did believe or even dreamt that one day Jamaica and England would have been on the same football pitch.
In those days, players from the 'Mother' country, players like Stan Matthews, Tommy Lawton, Nat Lofthouse, Stan Mortensen and Billy Wright, and later on as I grew older, others like Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton, Jack Charlton and goalkeeper Gordon Banks were men to idolise - little gods from a land far away.
Times have changed, however, and on Saturday Jamaica, little Jamaica who had made it to the world stage, to the World Cup Finals in 1998, went to Old Trafford in Manchester to take on not only England but the best of England.
Despite the odds against them even scoring a goal Jamaicans, many of them, and especially so those residing in Britain, entertained thoughts of an upset - of a draw, probably even of a victory that would announce their arrival to the world.
That, however, was wishful thinking and the result was a mismatch.
For 90 minutes, it was like boys up against men as the Jamaicans - all of them but for goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts who spent his time picking the ball out of his goal, running around Old Trafford chasing shadows.
DIFFERENCE IN CLASS
In a wonderful display which underlined the difference in class between the two teams, England scored four goals in the first half, two in the second after missing a penalty and taking their foot off the pedal and with Jamaica failing to even get a good look at goalkeepers Paul Robinson and David James, with Jamaica's moments of aggression limited to a few long distance shots by Jason Euell, Luton Shelton, Ricardo Fuller, Jermaine Hue and Garfield Reid, eased to a comfortable 6-0 victory.
Although the margin of defeat could have been worse - and especially so with their defenders so weak, there are some Jamaicans who believe that Jamaica, with Marlon King and Ricardo Gardner in the line-up, could have done better.
That, however, must also be wishful thinking.
King or no King, Gardner or no Gardner Jamaica, who, with four teams qualifying from their group failed to qualify for the World Cup, Jamaica, who lost 5-0 to Australia and 4-1 to Ghana, did not have the chance of a snowball in hell against a team like England.
It is a team with a rich history in the game, a team that has won the World Cup, a team that has since been to the semi-finals, a team that last time around lost to eventual champions Brazil, a team that in David Beckham, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney (even though he was absent), Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard, Joe Cole, John Terry, Ashley Cole and Rio Ferdinand possesses some of the finest players in the world, and a team that is one of the five or six favourites to win the Cup.
BEST IN WORLD
Lest it be forgotten by those who believe that Jamaica had a chance to embarrass England by even scoring a goal or two against them, and by those who are now strongly criticising the players, the English League is one of if not the best in world.
While the Jamaica team comprises mostly home grown players, players from the USA and players from the lower leagues in English football, the players in the England team, almost to a man, come from the richest and leading clubs in the Premier League - from Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspurs.
Lest it be forgotten also, English football, which is supported by full houses every day of play, by sponsors who align themselves with all the teams and by money from television rights, is richer, much richer than Jamaica's football and because of that, or mainly because of that, there is no comparison between the organisation and the professionalism of English football and Jamaica's football.
On top of that, with the English leagues so rich and so strong, many of the world's best players appear in them and because of that, the English footballer is more exposed, much more exposed and more experienced, much more experienced, than the Jamaican.
England versus Jamaica in a football match and before a full house in England at that? That was great.
It was, however, not an earned match-up. It was a friendly and because of the difference between football in England and football in Jamaica, neither the performance of Jamaica nor the score line was surprising - certainly not to me.
