Technical director Velibor 'Bora' Milutinovic displaying a souvenir he picked up in Hong Kong. - Hong Kong FA website photo

Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter

It is said that the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.

Having made that footprint by lifting the Lunar New Year Cup in Hong Kong, the triumphant Reggae Boyz and technical director Velibor 'Bora' Milutinovic returned to the island on Thursday night.

"It was a very good result, it was an excellent win and I think it was very important," explained a tired Milutinovic surrounded by a handful of proud Jamaicans at the Norman Manley International Airport. "I was very happy with the huge effort that they made, their attitude was perfect and the guys had fun, it was very good."

Created history

The 22-man Jamaica squad, the majority of which had constituted Under 23 players, joined by six senior members, created history by winning a competition outside of the region.

The annual competition had seen the team joined by the Australian Olympic team, the China Olympic team and aHong Kong League. The team advanced to the final when they defeated hosts Hong Kong 5-3 on penalties and defeated China 5-4 on penalties again in Wednesday's final.

While many have questioned the actual validity of the result with the China (79th) and Australia (39th) Olympic teams not considered the strongest opposition, Milutinovic has defended the result as a positive one.

"They worked hard. The Hong Kong team was a very good team, Australia is a good team and so was China," Milutinovic explained.

Staying with seniors

The coach also took time out to explain the decision, criticised by some which saw him not join the Under-20 team in Mexico for the start of their World Cup qualification bid.

"I'm the coach of the senior team and we need to begin our preparations," the coach explained.

"If it was possible to be in two places at the same time I would be happy, but unfortunately it is not," he went on. "We needed to start the process, we need to start playing. We need to prepare for the Pan-Am Games and then we have the Olympic qualifiers. The Lunar Cup was very important."

Milutinovic left the island yesterday and is expected to join the Under-20 team ahead of their encounter against Mexico.