Bad result, bad performance
Reggae Boyz lose 2-1 to Qatar in friendly
Published:Friday | June 16, 2023 | 1:17 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
HEIMIR HALLGRIMSSON, head coach of the Reggae Boyz, says he was left disappointed with both the result and performance of the team during their international friendly against Qatar yesterday which saw the Reggae Boyz suffering a 2-1 defeat.
Speaking after the game, Hallgrimsson said most of the players were out of competitive action for up to a month and it showed on the team during the early phase of the fixture.
“Disappointed, first of all. We never like losing. Sometimes you say it’s a bad result but a good performance, but I would need to say and have to say that it was both a bad result and a bad performance. We can do much better than we did. I think the beginning of the game showed that it was three to four weeks that most of the players played their last match. But I was disappointed in both the performance and the result,” Hallgrimsson stated.
The Reggae Boyz went behind in the 31st minute as Qatar’s Homam Ahmed’s overlapping run down the left flank was left unseen by the Jamaican defence, and he slammed a powerful shot past goalkeeper Jahmali Waite at his near post. Eight minutes later, the Reggae Boyz, due to chaotic defensive work, went down 2-0 as Mohammed Muntari scored from close range. Jamaica, however, managed to pull a goal back in the 61st minute courtesy of a Shamar Nicholson penalty, which only proved to be a consolation effort.
Among the few positives for Hallgrimsson was the performance of midfielder Joel Latibeaudiere, who, despite not having a lot of training sessions with the group played the entire 90 minutes. Hallgrimsson added that playing the ball at a faster tempo and helping the attackers to find openings in order to score are two factors that the team will be working on ahead of their next fixture against Jordan on Monday.
“(Joel) Latibeaudiere played 90 minutes, and that was pleasing for me. Especially with him coming in without many training sessions, that was pleasing for me. Also, it was pleasing for me to see a guy do a good job in a position that he’s not used to. We need much more tempo in what we’re doing. We were working too much as individuals, and sadly, we didn’t find openings. So those are the two things that we will spend time on,” he added.
Since his arrival as head coach of the senior men’s team, Hallgrimsson has yet to register a win. He said he is aware of that fact but he also knows the difference between a friendly and an official game.
“Easy answer is yes. Of course, I want to win every match but I know the difference between a friendly and an official game. I’ve always used the friendlies to think about what is coming up. We try to use these friendlies to build our team,” the Reggae Boyz head coach said.