‘It starts in the west’
Richards celebrates as Reggae Boyz lift CFU’s Caribbean Cup
BY PAUL A REID
Observer West writer
CATHERINE HALL, St James – FOR Reggae Boyz Dane Richards, the former Cornwall College and Seba United striker, Jamaica’s sixth hold on the Caribbean Football Union’s (CFU) Caribbean Cup is very special.
In front of a large crowd, including family members and friends at the Montego Bay Sports Complex on Tuesday night, he hoisted the winning trophy after his team defeated arch-rivals Trinidad and Tobago on penalty kicks.
Richards — who started his career with the national senior team in 2001, the same year he led Cornwall College to the schoolboy treble — said it was “a special moment to win at home”.
The Norway-based player started all four games as Jamaica silenced doubters and beat Trinidad and Tobago 4-3 on penalties after a gripping 0-0 draw after regulation and extra time.
“We did not advance past the first round in the last tournament [2012 in Antigua], but it was great to rebound here and win this,” Richards told Jamaica Observer West early Wednesday morning, as the players basked in the victory.
He was not completely happy with his play in the eight-day tournament. “I don’t think I did all that well personally. I am used to playing wide right but the coach asked me to play a bit more central and we all did what is needed for the team,” he said.
Richards, who played in the MLS and in England, had been away from the Reggae Boyz for an extended period before being recalled.
The team came into the tournament under a cloud of uncertainty, winless in their last six games and doubts about head coach Winfried Schaefer, who had led the team to just two wins since taking over the job late in the failed World Cup qualifying campaign.
An opening 1-1 draw against Martinique in the group stages did not help, as the team was booed by home fans, but two wins against Antigua and Barbuda and a tough Haiti, saw them advance to the final, in the process qualifying for next year’s CONCACF Gold Cup tournament in the USA and the prestigious and lucrative 2016 Copa America Centenario.
Roy Simpson, manager of the Reggae Boyz, is full of hope that this “very crucial win for the programme” will be the fillip that the team needs to start a winning run.
“Every time Jamaica’s football reaches the summit it starts in the west,” he told Observer West. “Hopefully, we can build on this and if we are to be serious about Russia 2018 it starts now.”
