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Brazilians arrive – Gama promises new day in J’can football
New Reggae Boyz technical director Walter Gama (left) speaks with JFF executive Raymond Anderson on arrival to the island, with son Luciano Gama (second right) and goalkeeping coach Joao Brigatti yesterday. (Photo: Marlon Reid)
Sports
Howard Walker | Sports Writer  
May 17, 2011

Brazilians arrive – Gama promises new day in J’can football

NEWLY-APPOINTED Reggae Boyz technical director, Brazilian Walter Gama, arrived in the island yesterday along with his son, Luciano Gama and Joao Brigatti, vowing a different approach to get Jamaica back into the senior World Cup Finals.

Gama, 65, will be serving his third stint after first assisting Rene Simoes between 1998-2000. He returned in 2008 to co-ordinate the Youth teams, as well as the Women’s Programme, and in March this year he was in charge of the Under-20s’ failed World Cup bid in Guatemala.

“I’m happy for my return in Jamaica,” said Gama in stuttering English moments after being met at the Norman Manley International Airport by Jamaica Football Federation’s (JFF) executives Raymond Anderson and Howard McIntosh.

“We come to Jamaica to see what we’re going to do… this time it will be different from Simoes. This time most of the players are overseas.

“The last time most of the players played inside Jamaica. That is a positive point for Jamaica with international experiences,” he pointed out, with the help of his son Luciano, whose English is much better.

“So we have to make some things different; it is impossible to be the same,” he noted.

Last week the JFF announced their imminent arrival, but the Brazilians arrived at approximately 3:50 pm without Alfredo Montesso, who is expected to be in the island at a later date.

The elder Gama is expected to oversee the sweeping changes necessary for the development of the national game.

Montesso will be head coach for the Under-23 Olympic team, and will double as Theodore Whitmore’s assistant in the senior team. Luciano has been assigned head coach of the National Under-20 outfit, to be assisted by Andrew Edwards.

Brigatti, who also worked with the Under-20s during a three-week camp in Brazil and consequently, the CONCACAF Under-20 World Cup qualifying tournament in Guatemala, will join Warren Barrett and Clive Wedderburn as goalkeeper coaches.

He barely speaks English and it should be interesting as he gets his tactic across to the players via Barrett and Wedderburn.

The Gamas, who assisted the JFF while the Under-17s were in Brazil on a six-week training camp, will not be part of that team as they travel to the FIFA World Championship set for June in Mexico.

According to Captain Horace Burrell, the Brazilians’ services has come at a bargain package of US$50,000 (J$4.2 million) per month.

The last time Simoes and a Brazilian technical team were here, their total salary package exceeded US$1 million yearly. Simoes, was reportedly earning US$600,000 annually.

With the JFF struggling to make ends meet, Burrell have tentatively signed a three-year contract, with the hope that funding will be made available though private sponsorship, or via the Jamaican government.

He said he could only guarantee the salaries for six months at this point, and the funds will be re-directed from a US$300,000 (J$25 million) bonus that FIFA paid to each of its 208 member associations.

In addition to their coaching expertise, the Brazilians will lecture at the JFF/UTech Coaching School.

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