‘It’s psychological’
Hallgrimsson demands greater Reggae Boyz confidence following Copa America loss to Mexico
JAMAICA’S Reggae Boyz Head Coach Heimir Hallgrimsson believes his team needs to overcome a mental hurdle if its members are to get to the levels of regional giants Mexico, following the 0-1 loss in their opening game of the 2024 Copa America at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, on Saturday.
The Mexicans continued their seven-year unbeaten run over Jamaica as a 69th-minute strike from Gerardo Arteaga gave them the victory.
Luck wasn’t on the side of the Boyz as Michail Antonio’s 50th-minute header, which would have given them the lead, was ruled offside.
The Jamaicans struggled to create clear-cut chances throughout the contest with just four shots on target while goalkeeper Jahmali Waite was kept busy with eight saves.
Though Jamaica has one win in their last 12 outings against Mexico, Hallgrimsson believes his team’s underdog mentality will have to change if they are to be more competitive against their Concacaf rivals.
“In many ways we match them on the pitch [but] the Mexicans have the superiority of winning and playing in the finals of all the Concacaf competitions, so I think it’s psychological. I think we just need to [get] one win [and] then we will overcome this,” he said.
“I felt like in the match, when we had the ball, there was not the confidence on the ball like they had. When you saw how they were so confident on the ball and when we won it, we were hiding a little bit.
“There’s so much quality in this Jamaican team but we’re kind of struggling to get it out; to get players to be more aggressive, more brave, more confident — and I think psychologically that’s the only difference between these teams at the moment.”
Hallgrimsson’s 68th-minute substitutions came into question, including bringing on Damion Lowe in place of Demarai Gray and which also saw Bobby Reid move to the wide position. The Mexicans would end up scoring a minute later.
However, Hallgrimsson was pleased with Reid’s effort as it wasn’t in his game plan to play him in central midfield.
“The decision was made because there was a family crisis and [Lowe] needed to go last two days prior to the match so he didn’t participate in preparation for this match, so we kept him on the bench to begin with. Of course we’re missing a little bit of steel in the midfield but Bobby Reid came in midfield and did a marvelous job — we kept the ball better than we have often done. I think it was a good change and a surprise to the Mexicans that we played like this, different from our formation from before,” he said.
Despite the result, Hallgrimsson believes the performance is something to build on going forward.
“I’m really proud of the players, how they played to the end. We gave them a tough match and, in the end, I was hoping and I thought we deserved to score on and get something out of this game but I think overall [we’re] quite happy with the game defensively, especially tactically,” he said. “We still need to protect the ball better when we have it — and that is something that we will slowly improve — but overall quite happy with how the game played out, [though we’re] ofcourse unhappy with losing. Big games like this against a tough opponent, with all the supporters, will only help us grow.”
Their second match of Group B takes place on Wednesday when they battle Ecuador who also suffered defeat, having lost to Venezuela.
Though a few days away, Hallgrimsson is expecting a tough contest, acknowledging that a lot is on the line.
“Losing the first game in the competition sets up the second game as a must-win game so it’s a must-win game for Jamaica and Ecuador,” he said.
“I know [Coach] Felix Sanchez really well, he’s a good friend of mine, and I know he would want to do everything to win this match. It’s a similar game to this one — it’s going to be physical, it’s going to be tempo in the game, a lot of fight, and we just need to get a good recovery and be ready to face a tough opponent in Ecuador.”