FOLLOWING their 2-1 win over Guatemala in a Group A CONCACAF World Cup qualifier on Friday night, head coach Theodore Whitmore is asking fans to have faith in the Reggae Boyz.

“You need to have a little more trust in the team and I think we have a far way to go,” said Whitmore of Jamaica’s ‘Road to Rio 2014’ campaign.

Goals by Demar Phillips and Ryan Johnson in the 40th and 46th minutes pushed Jamaica to a 2-1 win and joint top of the group with the United States, who defeated Antigua and Barbuda 3-1 in Florida.

Whitmore has been under pressure following friendly defeats against Panama and a lacklustre performance against Guyana in recent weeks.

“This performance is not a surprise. I’ve been saying this all week since we came back from Panama. The vibes and everything was all right,” Whitmore noted.

Despite dominating possession and hitting the crossbar on a few occasions, courtesy of Rodolph Austin, Jamaica won by only a solitary goal after conceding a 90+2 minute goal by Dwight Pezzarossi. But Whitmore was not perturbed.

“We wanted the win to get three points, but complacency set in and we conceded a goal. This is football and at the end of the day we came away with three points. But I think it was a very positive start,” he said.

“We hit the crossbar twice and the Guatemalan ‘keeper made some great saves. It’s a good start for us; it was a good team effort,” said Whitmore.

His counterpart Ever Hugo Almeida was disappointed but admitted Jamaica were deserved winners.

Almeida said Jamaica’s goals came at crucial points in the game and forced them to change their game plan.

“In the second half we had to change three players. One was injured and the others were tactical. Immediately, Jamaica scored a second goal and it damaged our morale,” said Almeida.

“We did not recover and for that Jamaica are deserved winners. But the goal is important because it reduces the deficit and it might come down to goal difference in the end,” he said.

Teams:

Jamaica — Donovan Ricketts (Dwayne Miller 20th), Nyron Nosworthy, Adrian Mariappa, Demar Phillips, Lovell Palmer, Jason Morrison, Rodolph Austin, Dane Richards, Je-Vaughn Watson, Luton Shelton (Ricardo Fuller 70th), Ryan Johnson (Tramaine Stewart 86th).

Booked: None

Subs not used: Keammar Daley, Damion Stewart, Xavian Virgo, Errol Stevens, Claude Davis, Rohan Reid, Ewan Grandison, Joel Senior, Jacomena Barrett

Guatemala — Ricardo Jerez, Elias Vasquez, Erwin Moralez, Carlos Gallardo, Wilfred Velasquez, Jairo Arreola (Dwight Pezzarossi 46th), Miguel Galindo (ose Contreras 46th), Luiz Rodriquez, Marco Pappa (Mario Rodriquez 46th), Jonathan Lopez, Carlos Ruiz

Booked: None

Subs not used: Jose Paredez, Minor Lopez, Rafael Morales, Jose Aguila, Gonzalo Romero, Paulo MottaDonis, Manuel Sandoval, Carlos Figueroa, Marvin Sanchez

Referee: Roberto Moreno Salazar (Panama)

Assistants: Daniel Anel Williamson (Panama), Keytzel Raul Corrales Mojica (Nicaragua)

Fourth Official: Jafeth Perea Amador (Panama)

Referee Assessor: Rodolfo Alexander Sibrian (El Salvador)