High-scoring Haitians dangerous for young Reggae Boyz

Jamaica’s Under-14 Reggae Boyz will take on a rampaging Haiti team in the final of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Under-14 Challenge Series in the Dominican Republic today.

Defending champions Jamaica have been flawless from the outset. They opened with a 4-0 victory over St Kitts and Nevis, edged Aruba 1-0, then defeated Curaçao 2-0 to top their group with the maximum nine points.

In the semi-finals, the young Reggae Boyz defeated Bermuda 1-0 to secure their place in today’s decider.

Although Haiti’s young Grenadiers lost their final group match, they have been ruthless throughout the competition.

They opened with a 5-2 victory over French Guiana before routing Trinidad and Tobago 4-1 in their second game. Despite falling 1-0 to Puerto Rico in their final group match, they rebounded in emphatic style to hammer hosts Dominican Republic 6-1 in the semi-finals.

Jamaica coach Vassell Reynolds said that although Haiti are favoured to lift the title, his players are highly motivated to defend their crown.

“From pretty early in the tournament we recognised the quality of the Haitian team. So early out we thought they would be the team to beat.

“They are very good technically, and physically they are very big, and if you follow their results, they had some pretty good results.

“Nevertheless, we are very confident. We have been doing well as a team. The team is improving game by game and all we are depending on and asking of the players is to continue to improve, but trying to win the title twice in two years is an extra motivation and we are hoping the players will give possibly their best performance to date and make the score take care of itself,” he said.

Despite Haiti’s strength, Reynolds said Jamaica will be as competitive as required against their formidable opponents.

“We are hoping that the players will try to execute to the best of their abilities and that is what we are asking of them.

“Our aim was always to play in the final, and being back in the final indicates that we have good talent back home and we have maintained our standards, and we want to do our very best to try and retain the title.”

He added that there is no pressure on the youngsters, who have shown maturity and composure heading into the championship match.

“From day one, no pressure from within. We asked the players to focus on their continued development.

“We have seen some level of maturity game by game. We had a few players who lifted their performance in the semi-finals and that is a good sign.

“We are very confident. The players seem very relax. So we are just hoping that we get into the final with the same level of composure and focus and try to execute to the best of our abilities.”

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com