Reggae Boyz Still Trying To Score First Friendly Win Since 2020
Jamaica head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson hits six-match winless streak ahead of Gold Cup
Heimir Hallgrimsson is still struggling to register his maiden victory as Jamaica fell apart in the second half to lose 2-1 against minnows Jordan inside the Stadion Wiener Neustadt in Austria today (19 June).
Cory Burke slotted home a 39th-minute penalty before second-half strikes from Mahmoud Al-Mardi and Ali Olwan wrapped up the Reggae Boyz’ warm-up preparations ahead of their CONCACAF Gold Cup campaign without a win in 10 friendlies.
Head coach Hallgrimsson, outfoxed by his opposite number Carlos Queiroz in the one-sided 2-1 reversal to Qatar last week, is looking like a lost man as he continues to drum up a run of disappointing results since he took the helm.
Hallgrimsson will be desperate to stop the rot at the Gold Cup, having recorded an unenviable winless streak of six matches since joining at the start of the year.
He mixed things up from his 20-player squad, bringing in more experience and veering from his ambitious 4-2-2-2 formation failure against Qatar with a 4-3-3 line-up.
The Boyz, whose last victory in a friendly international was their 2-1 success over Saudi Arabia in November 2020, were simply second best to no.84 FIFA world-ranked Jordan — 21 places behind Jamaica.
This was the first time that Jordan, who finished first in last year’s AFC Asia Cup qualifiers, were meeting Jamaica and they were able to easily deal with physical opponents.
Their head coach Adnan Hamad, back for a second stint in the role, had hot-shot striker Musa Al-Taamari as his main weapon. The French-based ace had been on target three times in his past couple of outings, following up his brace in March’s 4-0 trouncing of the Philippines with a goal against Serbia.
He joined Yazan Abdallah Al-Naimat and Olwan upfront to test the defensive nous of Amari’i Bell, Adrian Mariappa, Di’Shon Bernard and Javain Brown, who in the first half managed to shield returning shot-stopper Andre Blake in place of Jahmali Waite.
At the other end of the pitch Jamaica found it tricky to break down the solid Jordan defence, which had kept three clean sheets in their previous five matches.
The Boyz, who had relied on an own goal and penalty for two of their previous three strikes, managed to net through Burke to snatch an undeserved lead as they entered the half-time interval.
Skipper Blake, who thwarted both Hamza Al-Dardour and Yazan Al-Arab around the half-hour mark, was kept ridiculously busy throughout as Jordan pinned back the Boyz with a second-half onslaught.
The veteran was at his best to prevent an immediate equaliser but was unable to deny Al-Mardi’s 56th-minute leveller crossing the line. Two minutes later Jordan thought they had taken the lead, but the strike was ruled off for being offside.
Hallgrimsson, trying to end the embarrassing one-sided affair, threw on a pair of fearless English-based 19-year-olds on the hour-mark. Wolves’ Dexter Lembikisa came on for Amari’i Bell in defence with Leicester City U21 ace Brandon Cover replacing Jon Russell in midfield.
Before the duo had time to find their feet the Boyz slipped behind to Olwan’s 63rd-minute goal, which totally deflated Jamaica.
With Hamad’s troops having last picked up an away friendly win courtesy of their mid-2022 2-0 victory over India, they battled their way against a lacklustre Jamaica side bereft of ideas and came close to extending their lead before settling for an historic win.
Following Hallgrimsson’s latest defeat the omens are looking decidedly gloomy for the Boyz, who head to the United States tomorrow (20 June) for Gold Cup duty.
Jamaica tackle the US, crowned Nations League champions at the weekend following a 2-0 win over Canada, at Chicago’s Soldier Field on 24 June.
The Boyz will face Trinidad & Tobago, who replaced banned Nicaragua in Group A, at CITYPARK in St. Louis four days later, having been outplayed by the Soca Warriors in March’s two friendlies.
Jamaica complete their group games at Levi’s Stadium against a preliminary round winner in Santa Clara on 2 July, for a match that Hallgrimsson simply must win or face serious doubts about his suitability in the role.
There were high expectations from fans, pundits and the Jamaica Football Federation for Hallgrimsson to have already started to mould the twice Gold Cup finalists into one of the region’s best teams.
So far he’s failed in six matches, and his tenure will surely come under intense scrutiny should the Boyz continue to produce failures and such poor performances. Jamaica have not ignited the prestigious tournament since 2017, and in reality their shot at the 2023 Gold Cup glory appears extremely slim.
JAMAICA | Waite – Bell (Lembikisa, 60), Mariappa, Bernard, Brown – Russell (Cover, 60), Lambert, Johnson – Parris, Phillips, Burke. Subs: Blake, Boyce-Clarke, King, Latibeaudiere, Nicholson, Phillips, Richards, Walker
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