After being outplayed in a 0-3 loss to Nigeria in the Unity Cup final at The Valley in London, England, on Saturday, Reggae Boyz interim head coach Rudolph Speid says he does not regret fielding what he described as the “youngest team ever to represent Jamaica at this level”.

Alhassan Yusuf scored a brace and Terem Moffi added another for an equally youthful Nigerians that won their fourth-straight Unity Cup title.

The Jamaicans lost for a third time after going down in 2002 and 2025, on each occasion to Nigeria.

Speid argued that the scoreline did not reflect the flow of the game.

“I believe that the game was not a 3-0 game, I thought we made some lapses because of the inexperience of the players on set plays, and that was the difference between both teams,” he said during a post-match interview.

The Jamaica coaching staff made four changes to the team that defeated India in Wednesday’s semi-finals, bringing in defender Christopher Ainsworth, midfielders Dwight Merrick and Nickyle Ellis, and forward Dajaune Brown.

They replaced Odin Samuels-Clarke, Isaac Hayden, Tyrese Hall, and Bailey-Tye Cadamarteri.

Speid said after the game that some players had left the camps after the first game. He did not indicate if that had forced the changes.

However, the interim coach said Jamaica’s football should benefit from the games as the coaches were able to expose younger talents

“No, there’s no regret, because we actually found some really good players who we know can serve Jamaica for the future. If you ever come to a tournament and leave with about four or five players that you see can help the country in the future, that’s a win for us,” he reasoned.

He admitting that two of the goals came from self-inflicted mistakes and added that in those moments players should have done “a little bit better”. But Speid argued that, overall, the team did not do as poorly as the final result would suggest.

“I thought that the rest of the game we were right there. We took shots, we had chances, we attacked, we were not afraid to go forward, and the players pressed the ball when they had to. I think it was a good performance from us. The scoreline definitely doesn’t reflect the game,” he reiterated.

Jamaica were behind from as early as the second minute when Yusuf fired past goalkeeper Coniah Boyce-Clarke. The Nigerians held the lead into the half-time interval.

Moffi headed a second goal for the Super Eagles in the 59th minute. After what seemed like a mix-up they capitalised on a failed Jamaican defensive clearance.

With the game already dead, Yusuf added a third in stoppage time, beating Boyce-Clarke with a one-time strike after he was put through on goal.