AS his professional training would suggest, Captain Horace Burrell knows the importance of planning.

Admirably, the JFF boss has taken charge of a long trek across the Atlantic Ocean on what seems to be a serious scouting mission ahead of their final World Cup qualifying phase, starting in February.

Having been around long enough, Burrell also knows the immediate future of local football hinges on the success of the Reggae Boyz in the current campaign. For, as has previously been expounded, a raft of other national outfits awaits the financial spin-offs should the seniors advance to Brazil in two years’ time.

Indeed, the local football body has made little secret of its financial woes and the need for corporate sponsorship, as well as physical support when the team plays at home. Regardless, as has previously been articulated in this space, this is a two-way process, with the burden of responsibility falling to team and management to deliver on performance and selection, respectively.

According to public records, in the past few editions, world governing body FIFA automatically awarded US$1 million to the 32 teams just for reaching the World Cup Finals. In addition, each country was handsomely rewarded for the matches they contested, with each guaranteed at least three in the preliminary group stages.

The stakes are, therefore, high enough for Burrell not to have left this critical matter to the impulses of inexperienced negotiators.

No doubt, the JFF should be lauded for this pre-emptive bid to strengthen the squad even as it targets a historic second appearance at football’s most esteemed event. So too, for demonstrating a fearless attitude at a time when the nation needs its very best players — an initiative that would tangibly showcase brand Jamaica should we once again book our tickets to the ‘big dance’.

However, as the high-profile JFF team strives over the next week or so to persuade quality players with Jamaican roots to join the Reggae band, the hope is that the most critical areas will be prioritised and that the entity will return with positive feedback on players like Marlon King.

For, as has been argued on countless occasions, talented strikers don’t come ‘a dime a dozen’ and discussions must, therefore, be treated with a high degree of professionalism and sensitivity if relationships are to be forged.

Further, the out-of-favour King, who boasts better than a goal in every two matches for Jamaica, seems to be in spanking form for his English Championship outfit and would be a definite asset to the team.

So far this season, the 6’1″ enigma has hit the net seven times in 14 appearances for Birmingham City, including a superb hat-trick in a 3-3 draw against Millwall less than a fortnight ago.

As for the teenaged Liverpool winger Raheem Sterling, who has already been given a senior England call-up, the JFF might have come a-calling a tad too late. Sterling is yet to make his international debut, however, and at the moment, is still eligible to represent Jamaica.

Regrettably, instinctive logic suggests the Maverley-born youngster, who emigrated as a six-year-old and honed his skills in one of the toughest areas of London, will ultimately choose the more lucrative offerings from England.

Standing a mere 5’7″, Sterling’s is an absorbing story of rags to riches, having been pulled at an early age from mainstream primary school in England and sent to a special institution consequent to behavioural problems.

According to a teacher at Vernon House Special School, he once told the youngster as a 10-year-old that “If you carry on the way you’re going, by the time you’re 17 you’ll either be playing for England or you’ll be in prison.”

Jamaicans would dearly love to replace the name of the country in the aforementioned statement.

In returning to the Captain, his message is clear: He aims to leave no stones unturned to hand the nation a fighting chance of securing a top-three finish in this important final WCQ stage.

With pragmatic local fans having already ceded the top two berths to Mexico and the United States, the Boyz will presumably engage Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama in some exciting exchanges for the other automatic berth. Of the latter three, Panama is the most potent threat, having had the measure of Jamaica in both friendly, as well as competitive games in recent times.

Armed with this experience, though, the Boyz have the time and, hopefully, will also possess the ammunition to break this jinx against the speedy and unorthodox Panamanians.

With the climax of the regional qualifiers drawing apace, I was struck by an interesting bit of data regarding the FIFA All-Star Team that is selected after each World Cup Finals and rewards players for their excellence in the positions they play for their national teams.

Previously comprising 11 players, then 16 in 1998, it currently consists of 23 players chosen by FIFA’s technical study group — a cadre of sports journalists from Europe and South America.

That with 44 players, five-time world champions Brazil have had the most All-Star players in the history of the World Cup is not surprising. What was fascinating, however, was that for a country renowned for its attacking prowess, there were all of 16 defenders and 16 midfielders, yet only 12 strikers as at 2010.

For the moment, we can only dream of these lofty heights. In the meantime, we’ll settle for 23 economy class tickets to Brazil.