THEODORE Whitmore touched down on Jamaican soil after scoring both goals in a historic 2-1 win over Japan in the France 1998 World Cup with a spring in his step, chest high and chin up.

Twelve years on, he touched down again a proud man. This time, he coached the Reggae Boyz to a close 1-2 defeat to footballing giants Argentina in that country on Wednesday night.

Whitmore, along with most of his squad, arrived in Jamaica yesterday at approximately 4:30 pm and was greeted and feted by sponsors Digicel in the VIP Lounge at the Norman Manley International Airport.

“I just want to thank the sponsors, the technical staff and the players for a wonderful performance. The result wasn’t something that we wanted and I am disappointed,” said Whitmore.

Whitmore was, however, pleased with the team’s fighting spirit and togetherness.

“The team stuck together, work as a team, kept our shape and maintained our discipline,” he noted.

A doting Paula Pinnock-MacLeod, Digicel’s sports sponsorship manager, was on hand and presented flowers to the arriving party.

“Twelve years ago we got 5-0 from Argentina and now we were in a position where we could actually have won. So on some level I see them as winners. I don’t see any of them coming home being satisfied, I see them coming home saying they should have won and that’s the spirit,” Pinnock-MacLeod told the Observer.

“We are in the right position right now to say we are going to take football to the next level and we are satisfied with that,” she added.

Jamaica, courtesy of a Ryan Johnson strike in the 47th-minute, led Argentina 1-0 in Mar del Plata with six minutes to go, which had the home support on edge.

Veteran striker Martin Palermo pulled one back in the 84th before Ignacio Canuto made sure Jamaica’s fairlytale ambitions ended on a sad note with a goal in time added to complete the marginal 2-1 victory.

Reggae Boyz captain Shavar Thomas was also in a good mood and he congratulated Digicel for their “undying support every time”.

“We don’t want to discredit what we have done. But positive results are what we are aiming for. The vision is 2014,” noted Thomas.

“We went out there and rose to the occasion. We want to build on that performance and move forward,” he added.

The team arrived home without three overseas-based players in Dane Richards, Ryan Johnson and Rodolph Austin.