CATHERINE HALL, St James — Time, or specifically the lack thereof, seemed a major factor in the disappointing performance by the Jamaican team in the CONCACAF Under-20 Championships, claims head coach Theodore Whitmore.

The CONCACAF tournament is a qualifier for the FIFA World Cup to be staged in New Zealand later this year.

Jamaica’s chances of qualifying officially ended on Sunday night after losing 0-2 to the USA in their Group A game at the Montego Bay Sports Complex after picking up just one point in their previous three games and failing to score in the last three.

“Time was a major factor in putting the team together,” Whitmore told the Jamaica Observer during a post-game press conference. “We did not have the year or more that some teams had to work, so we had to go to the Premier League clubs with players with the age,” said the France 1998 star.

Whitmore was also heavily criticised for not “choosing the right players”, but he readily dismissed the suggestion. “No matter who we pick there are always going to be questions about who were left out,” he noted.

The short time, Whitmore conceded, made things difficult, and the performance in the qualifying tournament at home left a lot to be desired.

He would not say what suggestions he would make to remedy the situation for the future, but said he would be meeting with the Jamaica Football Federation soon and at that time he would offer his recommendations.

Whitmore did, however, conced that a national football academy would help the age-group teams, and pointed to the successful 1998 World Cup campaign as the blueprint where he said “we could have two teams training at any one time and travelling to Brazil for camps”.

Concentration during games for sustained periods was also a problem cited by Whitmore, a former senior Reggae Boyz coach.

“We saw what Costa Rica did in the World Cup. Look at Mexico and the USA teams, they are able to concentrate for longer periods in the games,” he said.

— Paul Reid