'Tappa' cites positives from Peru defeat

BY SEAN A WILLIAMS Assistant Sport Editor

Thursday, September 09, 2010

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida — Reggae Boyz coach Theodore 'Tappa' Whitmore says though his team lost its international friendly against Peru on Tuesday night, he was encouraged by the organisation of the team.

"I believe that we were a bit more organised than we were in previous games... I also liked the way we possessed the ball," said Whitmore after Jamaica went down to the South Americans at Lockhart Stadium here.

Jamaica were unfortunate not to have come out of the contest with a more positive result as Norway-based Demar Phillips unwittingly turned the ball into his own goal in only the third minute of play.

But Colorado Rapids' hitman Omar Cummings restored parity with a classic strike from 25 yards in the 20th minute. However, late substitute Jose Carlos Fernandez snatched the victory with his first touch of the ball in minute 83.

"It's a very unfortunate result from a tough game... I think the first goal was a very unfortunate situation, but you know we had to just move on from that," said Whitmore in a post-game interview.

The two-goal hero of Jamaica's 2-1 win over Japan in the France World Cup in 1998 nonetheless expressed disappointment with the team's offensive play.

"Our offence was a bit off as the only real shot came from Omar Cummings who scored the goal and brought us back into the game... Luton (Shelton) was a bit off, but we have to consider that he's coming off an injury," he said.

He, however, reserved partial praise for the performance of the defence and midfield.

"I'm somewhat satisfied with the performance of the defence, especially in the first half. In the second half, we were a bit shaky... the midfield with Jason Morrison and Richard Edwards was up there again," Whitmore explained.

Though the team lost, Whitmore maintains the team is on course.

".. Game by game we have to just keep improving... again I have talked about our organisation; we kept possession of the ball and I believe that we're on the right path," he noted.

"As I keep saying, you're going to win some and lose some, but... our main focus is our long-term goals," he added.

Those goals include the upcoming Digicel Caribbean Cup at year-end, the CONCACAF Gold Cup in the USA next summer and the World Cup 2014 qualifying campaign, which kicks off in 2011.

This latest defeat snapped a two-game winning streak in friendlies for the Boyz, who spanked Caribbean neighbours Trinidad and Tobago 3-1 last month in Port of Spain and followed up with a 1-0 win over Costa Rica on Sunday at 'The Office'.

In Tuesday's match-up, the Jamaicans lacked a 12th man in South Florida where there is a large Jamaican community, and it was the Peruvians who turned out in their numbers to cheer their team on.

"When you go away and play, this is the kind of the thing you'll have to deal with, so that should never be a problem. We just have to get used to... this kind of situation," Whitmore told the Observer.

Jamaica, ranked 82nd in the world, will turn their attention to the next friendly game against old foes Trinidad and Tobago in Kingston next month.

"Each game the approach will be different, but we will look back at tonight's game and then start our preparation for the Trinidad game," Whitmore said.

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'Tappa' cites positives from Peru defeat