Jamaica made history when they qualified for World Cup Soccer 98 in France. The Reggae Boyz as they are fondly known to the world, was the first English speaking Caribbean nation to qualify for the World Cup soccer finals. They gained thousands of fans and was voted one of the most colorful football teams of the tournament.
The Reggae Boyz fell 3-1 to Croatia in their debut World Cup game at the Stade Felix Bollaert on Sunday. Over 41,00 in attendance saw two second half goals from Robert Prosinecki and Davor Suker, put Croatia out of reach for the less experienced Jamaican team.
At the start of the game Croatia immediately attacked but Jamaica quickly settled and had much of the early possession. In the 27th minute Croatian striker Mario Stanic collected a rebound off the crossbar and put it pass Warren Barrett to put the Croatian team ahead. Jamaica came close to scoring on a number of occasions and was rewarded with the equalizer on the 45 minute mark when Ricardo Gardener put in a perfect cross for Robbie Earle to head into the top corner. The first half ended Croatia 1, Jamaica 1.
The second half saw a more determined Croatia team take control of the game and had Jamaica chasing. In the 53rd midfielder Prosinecki lobbed the ball over Jamaica’s keeper Warren Barrett to put Croatia back into the lead. Jamaica missed a glorious opportunity to equalize when Deon Burton beat the Croatian goalie with a header that went just wide. Croatia struck again in the 69th minute when unmarked striker Suker received a cross from Prosinecki and hit a shot that deflected pass Barrett to put Croatia up 3-1. Substitute Andy Williams and Walter Boyd were brought in to step up the Jamaican attack, but the more experienced Croatian team maintained their lead to the final whistle.
Jamaica: 1-Warren Barrett (captain); 5-Ian Goodison, 15-Ricardo Gardener, 19-Frank Sinclair, 6-Fitzroy Simpson, 7-Peter Cargill (20-Darryl Powell 70), 11-Theodore Whitmore, 16-Robbie Earle (9-Andrew Williams 72), 17-Onandi Lowe, 18-Deon Burton, 22-Paul Hall (10-Walter Boyd 82).
Croatia: 1-Drazen Ladic; 14-Zvonimir Soldo, 17-Robert Jarni, 20-Dario Simic, 4-Igor Stimac, 6-Slaven Bilic, 10-Zvonimir Boban, 13-Mario Stanic, 7-Aljosa Asanovic, 8-Robert Prosinecki, 9-Davor Suker.
Referee: Manuel Melo Pereira (Portugal)..
Argentina hit the net five times to give a ten men Jamaica team 5-0 on Sunday. Gabriel l Batistuta scored the first hat-trick of the World Cup finals and Midfielder Ariel Ortega scored twice to secure Argentina’s spot in second round. From the opening whistle Argentina launched a series of attacks that threatened the Jamaican goal. The Reggae Boyz survived the early pressure and at times seemed like they would give Argentina a fight. Then in the 32nd minute Ortega struck to put his team ahead from a through pass by midfielder Juan Veron. Jamaica continued to hold on and even launched some good attacks with young Ricardo Gardener leading the charge. The biggest blow to the Jamaicans came in the 46 minute when Darryl Powell got a red card for a second bookable offense on the stroke of half time .The Half ended 1-0
Ten minutes into the second half Ortega split defenders Christopher Dawes and Peter Cargill and beat the advancing Barrett to go two up. With only ten men Jamaica started to fall apart and then Argentina struck again in the 72nd minute giving Batistuta the first of his three goals. He scored again in the 79th and then converted a penalty in the 83rd minute.
After the match the Jamaican coach Rene Simoes said: “No complaints, we were beaten by the better team. Jamaica like Japan has 0 points from two games and will not advance to the next round. Jamaica will play Japan next Friday.
Jamaica : 1-Warren Barrett (captain); 2-Stephen Malcolm (10-Walter Boyd 62), 19-Frank Sinclair, 5-Ian Goodison, 3-Christopher Dawes; 11-Theodore Whitmore (16-Robbie Earle 74), 6-Fitzroy Simpson, 20-Darryl Powell, 15-Ricardo Gardener; 22-Paul Hall, 18-Deon Burton (7-Peter Cargill 46)
Argentina: 1-Carlos Roa; 6-Nestor Sensini (14-Nelson Vivas 25), 2-Roberto Ayala, 3-Jose Chamot; 22-Javier Zanetti, 5-Matias Almeyda, 11-Juan Veron, 10-Ariel Ortega, 8-Diego Simeone (captain) (4-Hector Pineda 80); 9-Gabriel Batistuta, 7-Claudio Lopez (20-Marcelo Gallardo 75)
Referee: Rune Pedersen (Norway)
Theodore “Tapper” Whitmore led Jamaica to a 2-1 win over Japan on Friday giving the Reggae Boyz their first win in a World Cup finals.
Over 24,000 saw Japan settle early and seemed the more dangerous of the two teams for most of the first half. Ricardo Gardener and Withmore slowly brought Jamaica into play and then Jamaica struck in the 39th minute when Withmore skillfully evaded two defenders and fired a low shot past Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi. Jamaica came alive and started to ball the Japanese. In the 54th minute Jamaica’s opened the lead when Withmore moved in from the right flank and buried a left foot shot into the bottom corner.
Japan struck back in 75th minute as Nakayama volleyed home a header from substitute Wagner Lopes. Japan continued their attack to equalize but were denied by some superb keeping from Jamaican goalkeeper Aaron Lawrence. Jamaica finishes third in group H behind Argentina and Croatia and will not advance. The United States, Japan and Tunisia are the only teams in the World Cup without a point. Jamaica is the 47th team to win a World Cup final game. It did so on its 3rd attempt. Of the 65 teams which have played at least one match: 18 have not yet had victory. Among these teams, Korea Republic has played more matches (14), followed by Bolivia and El Salvador (6 each).
Jamaica – 13-Aaron Lawrence; 5-Ian Goodison (captain); 15-Ricardo Gardener; 19-Frank Sinclair; 2-Stephen Malcolm; 17-Onandi Lowe; 6-Fitzroy Simpson (16-Robbie Earle 90); 11-Theodore Whitmore; 3-Christopher Dawes; 8-Marcus Gayle (18-Deon Burton 79); 22-Paul Hall (10-Walter Boyd 72)
Japan – 20-Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi; 2-Akira Narahashi; 4-Masami Ihara (captain); 5-Norio Omura (22-Takashi Hirano 58); 17-Yutaka Akita; 3-Naoki Soma; 10-Hiroshi Nanami (11-Shinji Ono 78); 8-Hidetoshi Nakata; 6-Motohiro Yamaguchi; 18-Shoji Jo (12-Wagner Lopes 58); 9-Masashi Nakayama
Referee: Gunter Benkoe (Austria)
THE REGGAE BOYZ PRACTICE IN CHAUMOUNT, FRANCE
On site reports was that the Boyz worked very hard at their Chaumont training camp facility in France in preparation for their games.
Technical Director: Rene Simoes
