Sport

On the heels of Jamaica's close 1-0 victory over Costa Rica in their friendly international at the National Stadium on Sunday night, assistant coach Bradley Stewart believes that the team has taken a key step towards getting things in place ahead of the upcoming FIFA World Cup qualification series.

A 65th minute goal from San Jose Earthquake striker, Ryan Johnson, handed the Jamaicans their fourth win over the Central Americans in 20 games, and Stewart is happy with the lessons were learnt in the contest.

Speaking after the game, Stewart noted that while he was happy for the win, he was already looking ahead to today's friendly against Peru, in Florida, and is more concerned about his team's continued preparation for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign.

"This was a game that both teams needed to have played. I think the Costa Ricans, like us, are in a preparation phase and we accepted the opportunity that the Captain (Horace Burrell) had organised with open arms, knowing it was going to be a tough game. There was not a moment in the game when either team was able to relax," Stewart said.

"We hope that we are heading in the right direction and we will use this as an opportunity to gauge where we are at this moment and prepare for our next game. We have learnt a lot from this, and now we will be looking to put it to good use," he continued.

Stewart hinted at possible changes for today's game, as the technical team, which is led by head coach Theodore Whitmore, looks to afford more playing time to the younger players in the squad, as well as allow other players to integrate as well.

Back-to-back games

"We have back-to-back games so the next game you probably will see about four or five changes. Omar Cummings did not make it down (to Jamaica in time for the Costa Rica game), Shavar Thomas came in late, Addlery just made it in yesterday (last Saturday) and Shelton had a slight injury," Stewart shared.

Jamaica Football Federation boss Burrell was also pleased with the outcome.

"The Costa Ricans fought very hard today, it was an exciting and keenly contested game which could have gone either way. But congratulations must go to the Reggae Boyz having stood their ground and having pulled through this encounter," Burrell said.

Good result

"You could say this is the start of the Brazil campaign and so we wanted to get a good result and, at the ending of it, we got this result," he added.

Burrell went on to thank the fans and encouraged greater support for the team's next home game on October 10 against Caribbean rivals Trinidad and Tobago.

Meanwhile, Costa Rican coach, Ronald Gonzales, blamed his team's performance on fatigue, as it played two games in 48 hours, having battled to a 2-2 draw with Panama on Friday.

"In the second half, the team was lagging and was tired. We had to make changes to adjust. As you know, we played a game less than 48 hours in Panama and we couldn't compete physically with Jamaica."

- Andre Lowe