Downswell looking to reinforce U-20s
NATIONAL Under-20 coach Wendell Downswell has opened the door to young players who may still harbour hopes of representing the country at the 12-nation CONCACAF Championships in Guatemala next April.
Despite dominating the just-concluded Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Group C qualifying tournament in Guyana, Downswell told the Observer upon the Young Reggae Boyz’s arrival at the Norman Manley International Airport yesterday that he aims to strengthen the squad.
“The work has just begun, so first and foremost, we’ll open the selection process and look at other players because we had limited time in terms of the selection of the players (before the CFU tournament).
“There are a few spots that we need to strengthen in terms of competitiveness, so we’ll be looking forward to doing that,” he said.
“We’re relatively pleased with the core of players that we have, but we’ll maybe be looking for at least two specialist left-sided players. We also want to add another two quality forwards and a couple of central midfield players to what we have,” Downswell added.
Jamaica easily brushed aside the challenges of Grenada, US Virgin Islands and Guyana to book an automatic place, which left the hosts to play-off with three other runner-up teams to decide the fifth and final entrant from the Caribbean to the confederation finals.
The top four teams from the finals will then represent the region at the 2011 Under-20 FIFA World Cup in Colombia.
Downswell, who also coaches the Under-17 squad, conceded that in-depth planning is needed to get the outfit ready to qualify Jamaica for its second ever Under-20 World Cup Finals.
“I do know we (the coaching staff) are looking at having an overseas camp when we meet with the (Jamaica Football) Federation as part of intensifying the preparation. Between now and then (April), we’ll be looking at somewhere between six to eight quality international games, plus we’ll be playing the (local) Premier League teams and perhaps even the national senior team.
“The international exposure plays a pivotal role, so it would be of utmost importance as it relates to the development of the squad and giving them a realistic chance of qualifying,” Downswell told the Observer.