Jamaica vs. USA PREVIEW – Dream lives on for Jamaica to score Gold Cup Glory
Rampant Reggae Boyz on brink of rewriting history books
Jamaica are on the verge of making Gold Cup history by reaching their inaugural final in the prestigious tournament, but they face a tough task in trying to fend off co-hosts USA at Atlanta on Wednesday.
The Reggae Boyz, who squeezed into their third Gold Cup semi-final courtesy of a battling 1-0 victory against Haiti, will welcome back two key players so fancy their chances of stunning the defending champions.
Houston Dynamo striker Giles Barnes, the match-winning hero for the Boyz against Haiti on Saturday, enthused: “Going into the semi-finals with this team is the stuff dreams are made of.
“I’m so proud of my team and my country. Hopefully we can continue our run because we want to go into the final.”
Jamaica, who reached the 1993 and 1998 semi-final stage, will be hoping that it is third time lucky to reach the final when they face the five-time champions USA at the Georgia Dome.
Yet the Boyz have only defeated the USA once in recent times, pulling off a 2-1 upset at the National Stadium in Kingston three years ago. But they have only scored once against the USA from their past three meetings, which all resulted in slender defeats.
And the same lack of quality finishing, a long-term trademark of the Boyz since their heady days of 1998 when they reached the World Cup finals in France, could prove their downfall.
Barnes became the first forward in seven games to score for Winfried Schäfer’s team and maybe his goal will spark a revival for the strikers.
Barnes added: “They’ll be a tough test on Wednesday, but we’re confident that we’re more than capable of coming away with a positive result.
“People didn’t expect us to win our group and didn’t expect us to get to the semi-final. We know we’re the underdogs, but we have a special group and we’re going to keep on showing that.”
Jamaica’s head coach Schäfer is likely to field striker Darren Mattocks, returning from a one-match suspension, alongside Barnes, instead of Simon Dawkins.
And influential midfielder Je-Vaughn Watson is also likely to line-up to tackle the USA following his suspension.
Schaefer, who tinkered to tighten up his defence during their stuttering start at last year’s Caribbean Cup that the Boyz eventually won against all expectations, is unbeaten in all four Gold Cup games.
Fielding a disciplined and athletic midfield, who tend to punt the ball forward during the opening 45 minutes and then soak up the pressure after the turnaround, the Boyz have a real opportunity to rack up a shock victory over the USA.
FC Dallas hot-shot Watson is part of a gusty midfield that has seen skipper Rodolph Austin, Jobi McAnuff and Garath McCleary all brimming with confidence.
Schäfer added: “Watson is so good, it’s like he cannot get tired because he keeps running and running.”
And McAnuff, who notched a sublime goal against Costa Rica in Jamaica’s opening match of the competition, explained: “Obviously we fancy our chances against anybody at the moment.
“The pressure will be more on the USA given our recent results, we can’t wait for the game.”
But as well as having wasted goalscoring opportunities so far, the other concern is that the Boyz could suddenly run out of steam with 17 of the 23-man squad having also been involved in last month’s Copa America tournament in Chile.
The USA followed up their inconsistent group games with a 6-0 hammering of Cuba in Saturday’s mismatch of a quarter-final clash. However, Cuba suffered from their usual player defections and had already tasted a 6-0 reversal to kick-off their campaign against Mexico.
Six-time Gold Cup winners Mexico tackle Panama clash in the second game of Wednesday’s double-header at the Georgia Dome 9pm local time (8pm Jamaica time), following Jamaica’s meeting with the USA at 6pm local time (5pm Jamaica time). The respective victors will face-off at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Sunday.
Seattle Sounders striker Clint Dempsey, who bagged a hat-trick against out-of-sorts Cuba, will be eager to add to his six-goal tally in the tournament.
But the Boyz will also have to keep a close eye on forwards Aron Johannsson and Jozy Altidore, who missed the Cuba game through lack of fitness, as well as try to prevent captain Michael Bradley from creating goalscoring chances.
Schaefer added: “Jamaica’s team spirit is good, I have trust in all 23 players – I listen to all players, not only the leaders.
“Teamwork is very important but the best thing is that we play as a team and all the players go over the limit as they fight for the ball.”
The dream lives on for the Boyz, who have catapulted themselves as an international force to be reckoned with, and if they can convert a goalscoring chance then expect admirable defending to try to frustrate the USA.
Expected starting line-ups
JAMAICA: Miller; Lawrence, Hector, Morgan, Mariappa; Austin, Watson, McAnuff, McCleary; Mattocks, Barnes
USA: Guzan; Johnson, Alvarado, Gonzalez, Chandler; Beckerman, Zardes, Bedoya, Bradley; Johannsson, Dempsey
GOLD CUP KNOCKOUT FIXTURES
July 18: USA 6 Cuba 0
July 18: Jamaica 1 Haiti 0
July 19: Trinidad & Tobago 1 Panama 1 (Panama won 6-5 on pens)
July 19: Costa Rica 0 Mexico 1
July 22: Jamaica v USA (Georgia Dome, Atlanta, 5pm ko local time)
July 23: Mexico v Panama (Georgia Dome, Atlanta, 9pm ko local time)
July 25: 3rd/4th Play-off (PPL Park, Chester, 4pm ko local time)
July 27: Final (Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, 7.30pm ko local time)
jamaica!!!! 1-0