Jamaica vs Haiti Preview – Last Chance Saloon For Schãfer to Win Over Fans
Jamaica’s World Cup flops only playing for pride against Haiti
Winfried Schãfer’s Reggae Boyz will simply be going through the motions when they tackle Haiti at the National Stadium in Kingston on Tuesday (8.30pm ko). With both sides eliminated from their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign due to their lack of goals, the match unfortunately does not bode well for being a classic – and not many goals are expected.
Jamaica’s dreams of reaching the World Cup Finals in Russia turned into a nightmare but are now over. The final straw was Friday’s 2-0 reversal to hosts Panama, with Schãfer’s role as head coach in jeopardy. The Boyz lacked goal scoring nous in Panama City, half-heartedly pumping free kicks towards the opposition’s area that were easily snuffed out. Producing just two shots on target throughout their must-win tie was Jamaica’s downfall and possibly spells the end to Schãfer’s reign.
And having not found the back of the net since the shock 2-1 friendly against Chile in May has cost the Boyz a shot at playing in football’s premier competition.
Schäfer’s task was to reach the World Cup Finals, but he has failed to even reach the last stage of qualifying. Big questions will be asked by the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF).
Fans have lost the appetite to watch the Boyz with the current menu of players, which kicked off ever since former hero Theodore Whitmore was removed as manager and replaced by Schäfer over two years ago.
When it comes to competitive matches the Boyz have failed to deliver the high hopes they gave the nation after sneaking into last year’s Gold Cup final and putting Jamaican football back on the world stage.
The nucleus of players remain roughly the same, but fans rightly point out that too many English-based players plying their trade in the lower tiers are now involved.
Schãfer has approached high calibre players with Jamaican heritage, but the likes of West Ham’s Michail Antonio and Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling instead opted to turn out for England.
A sprinkling of Jamaican-based players are usually thrown into Schãfer’s squad, but the reality is that they are rarely given a chance to play.
Fans have long been demanding for players that they can associate with and support, crying out for battlers who are patriotic and will gel as a team.
So now Schãfer has an opportunity to placate those who turn up for the Haiti match by trying out some of the local talent. However. the German employs a safety first approach with his onus not so much about trying to win games but trying not to lose.
That policy may have worked out in a fortunate way of being crowned 2015 Caribbean Cup champions, but recently has failed and results have nose-dived this year. The Boyz are curently without a goal in their past four matches that all ended in defeat – to Venezuela, Mexico, Uruguay and Panama respectively.
The last time that the Boyz showed spirit was in the stunning success over hosts Chile, a warm-up friendly before the Copa America competition. Chile went on to win the tournament despite their blip at the hands of Jamaica.
In that friendly the Boyz fielded an experimental, many of the English-based players not involved due to their gruelling season having just concluded.
On paper Chile had been expected to simply steamroll past Schãfer’s charges. Yet the 2-1 success for Jamaica told a different story, the Boyz playing with real flair and given some freedom in their positions. This was the chance for many to prove that they deserved to be in the starting line-ups in the Copa America.
Instead of embracing the local talent from the Chile triumphant, it was back to the safety strategy for Schãfer of choosing his more experienced players. Yet the sides in their trio of Copa America reversals looked disjointed, and it was the same scenario in Panama.
Against Haiti, who have scored once – in June’s 7-1 thrashing by Brazil - from their past four outings, Schãfer has the opportunity to once more blood Jamaican-based players and give his newly-found MLS recruits a chance to shine instead of the same old faces. It worked a treat last time, and against a poor side like Haiti could be enough to save his own job.
Should Schãfer stick with his usual troops, then he may carve out a slender victory but won’t win over the fans.
But more importantly Schãfer has to win over the JFF and president Captain Horace Burrell.
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