Busy Boyz book more friendlies

Sean Williams

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

IT appears there are busy days ahead for the senior Reggae Boyz as the JFF yesterday announced two more friendly international matches, in addition to three set to be played this month.

As the Boyz's pre-CONCACAF World Cup qualifying tournament preparation picks up momentum, they have set home dates with 62nd-ranked Costa Rica in Jamaica on March 21 and against 47th-rated Panama on May 27.

These are not official FIFA dates, which sometimes means Jamaica may not have their strongest line-up.

Prior to the latest games, the Jamaicans already have on their plates 113th-ranked Cuba in a two-match series on February 22 in Kingston and two days later in Montego Bay.

The team will depart on February 25 for another match-up against 118th-ranked New Zealand in Auckland on February 29.

JFF boss Captain Horace Burrell, in making the announcement in New Kingston yesterday, said while he has confirmed the latest games, he is still trying to squeeze another out of Costa Rica while they are here.

"While we have confirmed that game against the Costa Ricans for March 21, I am still trying to see if we can do another game with them while they are in Jamaica, like what we have done with the Cubans," he said.

Meanwhile, head coach Theodore Whitmore was delighted with news of more matches as his team looks to reverse the lull in activity, which started towards the end of last year.

"We welcome these games with open arms... Basically, we will be using them as preparation for the World Cup qualifiers and we will be hoping that... we will be able to achieve most, if not all, what we want to do leading up to the game against Guatemala on June 8," he said.

"Things really and truly just started to pick up momentum as the president and the general secretary have been working real hard to get us games," Whitmore added.

Jamaica, ranked 52nd by FIFA, will also have the USA and Antigua and Barbuda in Group A of the CONCACAF play-offs.