Reggae Boyz Lift Cup
AFP
Thursday, February 22, 2007

Striker Kavin Bryan skillfully work is way around two chinese defender

HONG KONG (AFP) - Jamaica's Olympic team beat their Chinese counterparts 5-4 on penalties to lift the Lunar New Year Cup after a goalless 120 minutes in the final yesterday.

Goalkeeper Allien Whittaker was the hero, saving two spot-kicks as former China coach Bora Milutinovic masterminded another surprise victory in the international friendly tournament.

Milutinovic became the first coach to win the tournament for a second time, having been successful with Nigeria in 1998.

The 62-year-old Serbian, who has taken Mexico, United States, Costa Rica and Nigeria to the second round of the World Cup, was delighted with the under-23 team's success.

"I'm so happy for the Jamaican team. The whole of Jamaica can celebrate this win," he said.

"The Jamaicans really tried their best and I am so happy for many of the players who have never played abroad before. It was important to win this tournament."

In a lacklustre final which produced few bright moments, China had the better game and looked more dangerous in attack, but failed to find the back of the net against a stubborn Jamaican defence.

Jamaica started the penalty shootout poorly when Nicholy Finlayson missed his effort, but his team-mates buried their next five kicks.

China's Dai Qinhua and Wan Houliang both had their spot-kicks saved by Whittaker before Donovan Davis tapped in to start the Jamaican celebrations.

China coach Ratomir Dujkovic was disappointed but hoped his team, vilified over the notorious brawl which overshadowed a visit to England this month, will have more luck at next year's Beijing Olympics.

"We have to get this behind us and look forward to the future. Hopefully we will get more luck. Luck played a major part tonight," said Dujkovic, who is also a Serb.

China's best chance fell in the 61st minute when striker Jiang Chen darted into the box and struck a post during an excellent spell. Two minutes later, Jamaica 'keeper Whittaker produced an excellent save to keep out Li Wei's powerful freekick.

The Chinese tried hard to break the deadlock during extra-time but Jamaica's defence refused to buckle.

China fielded the same starting line-up which comprehensively defeated Australia's under-23s 2-0 on Sunday.

Earlier, Australia also needed penalties to overcome Hong Kong in the match for third place.

The Olyroos led the hosts 2-0 through Nathan Burns and Bruce Djite before conceding to Festus Baise and a Keith Gumbs penalty, but made amends by scoring all five penalties.

Monday, February 19, 2007

Boyz in Lunar Cup final
Defeat hosts Hong Kong 5-3 on penalties to advance
by Ian Burnett - Jamaica Observer Sports Editor

Jamaica's Reggae Boyz rained on the Chinese New Year celebration parade yesterday as their perfection from the penalty spot resulted in a 5-3 victory over a Hong Kong League XI in the opening game of the 2007 Lunar New Year Cup at the Hong Kong Stadium.

Nicholy Finlayson, Adrian Reid, Jermaine Taylor, Demar Phillips and Lovel Palmer were perfect from 12 yards, as they ensured that Fabian Taylor's opening goal in the 1-1 regulation time result, did not go to waste. No extra time was played.

The victory provided the highly-respected new technical director Bora Milutinovic with a winning debut, and sets up an appetizing final against China for the Lunar New Year Cup on Wednesday. China stopped the steely Australia 2-0 in the day's second game.

"I am happy for this win, the players make big effort and they had good attitude, so it was good," a calm Bora told the Observer at game's end.

"The players performed much better than I thought they would and they got a good result. It was a good start to this Chinese New Year," added the 62-year-old Serb, who is the only man to have coached five national teams at FIFA World Cup Finals.

In the first 25 minutes the home side went close on two occasions through headers from Tales Schutz, who struck the ball in the waiting arms of Richard McCallum from close range, and then the big striker directed an effort centimetres from McCallum's right hand post.

The Boyz gradually got into their groove and after Mario Swaby, playing in the unusual position of left back, tested goalkeeper Chunhui Zhang from long range.

Swaby began to carve open space in the Hong Kong defence and it was no surprise when Fabian Taylor opened the scoring on 42 minutes.

With three Harbour View players combining on the right side, Lovell Palmer relayed a pass to Kavin Bryan, who slipped to the flank before picking out Taylor with a well-weighted pass.

The fleet-footed Taylor met the pass with a well-placed header to beat Zhang all ends up.

It was an inspirational goal from Taylor, who was sidelined from the national senior team with a series of injuries since 2004.

Immediately after the resumption, Jamaica should have increased the lead when Swaby again created havoc down the left flank and the ball ended with Bryan, who swiveled and fired straight at Zhang from close range.

Fabian Taylor, making his return after a long lay-off from the national set-up, scored in the 42nd minute to give Jamaica a 1-0 lead.

In the 52nd minute, Reno's Finlayson lashed a torrid right-footer against the crossbar after another decent build-up.

With time running out, Hong Kong League XI's coach Dejan Antonic introduced a number of fresh legs as his side pinned the Boyz on the back foot and forced McCallum into a few fine saves.

Antonic's move finally paid off when 39-year-old substitute Kin Wo Lee's corner was headed home by Keith Gumbs, 11 minutes from the end. Gumbs is a native of St Kitts & Nevis, who has played in Trinidad and Tobago, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

With neither team being able to break the deadlock thereafter, penalties were required and the Jamaicans proved the better team with a display of perfect penalty kicking.

Finlayson, calm and collected like all his team mates, led the way, followed by Reid, Taylor, Phillips and then Palmer sealed the issue when Freitas, who had tested McCallum from long range, saw his low shot blocked by the Jamaica goalkeeper.

Guy, Gumbs and Sai Ho Cheung were successful from the spot for Hong Kong League XI.

"Penalties are emotional situations, so you can't practise them, but the players shot the ball excellently, they scored five," beamed Bora, who refused to divulge certain details on the team's performance.

Nonetheless, he said that the overall effort of the players was more pleasing to him than the result.

"When players give their best I am happy," he said, before adding "this is the first step of a very long road."

Bora was happy with the overall fitness of the players, considering that the game was played at a faster pace than the players are accustomed to in Jamaica.

In the second game, China, looking much the better team technically for long periods, had goals in each half.

Australia's clumsy defender Robert Comthwaite blasted an attempted clearance past his goalkeeper Danny Vukovic in the sixth minute, and late in the second half, substitute Jiang Ning made the game safe for the mainlanders.

Teams: Jamaica - Richard McCallum, Oneil Smith Xavian Virgo 84th), Jermaine Taylor, Mario Swaby (Mario Harrison 85th), Kavin Bryan, Demar Phillips, Donald Stewart, Adrian Reid, Fabian Taylor, Nicholy Finlayson, Lovel Palmer.

Subs not used: A Whittaker, J Pearce, D Williams, N Plummer, D Davis, H Howell, S Morrissey.

Booked: Stewart (25th)

Hong Kong League XI - Chunhui Zhang, Gerard Ambassa Guy, Wai Lun Lee (Vandre Monteiro 75th), Wai Lun Au (Kim Wo Lee 59th), Wilfred Bamnjo (Sai Ho Cheung 87th), Wai Ho Chan, Haiqiang Li (Pei Tak Man 46th), Fladimir Da Cruz Freitas, Keith Gumbs, Tales Schutz (Christian Kwesi Annan 68th), Cristiano Cordeiro.

Subs not used: Domingos Chan, Festus Baise, Ivan Jevic, Chun Pong Leung

Booked: Bamnjo (19th), Kim Wo Lee (87th)

• Referee: Wong Po On
• Assistants: Cheng Oi & Pau Sai Yin
• Fourth Official: Fong Yau Fat
• Match Supervisor: Chan Kwai Wing

Match Statistics

Jamaica vs Hong Kong League XI

• Goals 1 1
• Shots on 4 6
• Corners 1 10
• Offsides 0 4
• Fouls 10 14
• Yellow Cards 1 2
• Red Cards 0 0

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Bora's first test
Boyz tackle hosts as Hong Kong tourney kicks off
by Ian Burnett - Jamaica Observer Sports Editor

Technical Director Velibor  "Bora" Milutinovic

As China ushers in the 2007 Lunar New Year today, so too the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) will welcome the dawn of a new era with technical director Bora Milutinovic.

The 62-year-old Serbian coach will take charge of his first Jamaica national team when the Reggae Boyz oppose a Hong Kong League XI in game one of the four-team Hong Kong Lunar New Year Cup tournament here at the Hong Kong National Stadium at 3:15 pm (2:15 am local time) today.

The second game, two hours later, will be between the Olympic teams of Australia and China.

The two winners will contest the final next Wednesday at the same venue, while the two losers battle for third place earlier that same day.

The highly respected and much travelled Bora, the only man to have coached five nations to the FIFA World Cup Finals, will finally get his chance to direct his charges on the pitch in a match fully three months after signing a contract to coach the Reggae Boyz in their qualification bid for the South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup Finals.

Bora has admitted that he' had little time preparing this mixed group of players, and for now all he requests of them is intelligent football.

"Let's play the game, and be happy," is his charge to the Boyz.

"It is always performance that matters, not necessarily the result," he added. "To be a winner, you have to perform. If you don't perform you can't win games. When you are a winner, you know what to do in every moment. The winner is team spirit, the winner is attitude, the winner is organisation of the game, the winner is compromise of players, the winner is so many things," offered Bora.

He added that the players are making an "effort" and have "good attitude" - important ingredients to perform well. Still, he believes the players have good quality, but that they must continue to "work hard and improve everyday".

During the Boyz' half-field training sessions, Bora employed a 4-4-2 formation, but he insists formation is not important, only the intelligence of players.

"The football is not exact science. Soccer is a game and the winner is the team with the more intelligent players. With intelligent players, everything becomes much easier.

Coach Milutinovic (right) and captain Donald Stewart at a recent training session in Jamaica (Photo: Karl McLarty)

"I can use any formation to enter the field, but during the game players need to know the game to realise what they need at every moment."

And having opposed Hong Kong on a number of occasions, Bora is anticipating yet another competitive encounter.

"The Hong Kong team in reality is not the national players, it is a League X1 with a lot of foreign players, including Brazil, Argentina, Yugoslavia," he explained.

"Many times before my team play Hong Kong and mostly we won, but the games were usually so difficult."

From yesterday's training session at the Mong Kok Stadium, six players from Harbour View appear set to take to the pitch in the starting XI, including the 31-year-old Stewart who returns to the team as captain, after being in the wilderness since 1999. Also making a return are striker Fabian Taylor, who hasn't played at this level since 2004, and 23-year-old JDF goalkeeper Allien Whittaker, who gets his first call at the senior level, having been voted best goalkeeper at the 2001 Under-20 World Cup Finals in Argentina.

Yesterday, Bora's squad game suggested that Richard McCallum (Waterhouse) will be in goal, backed by Adrian Reid (Portmore) and Jermaine Taylor (H'View) in central defence, flanked by Oneil Smith (H'View) on the right and Mario Swaby (Portmore) on the left.

The midfield was marshaled by Stewart (H'View) and Nicholy Finlayson (Reno) in the centre, with Lovel Palmer (H'View) on the right and Demar Phillips (Waterhouse) on the left. Fabian Taylor and Kavin Bryan, both of Harbour View, are expected to get goals.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong League XI will be relying on "old heads" to get past Bora's Reggae Boyz.

The local team has included a number of veterans like 35-year-old striker Au Wai-lun, 39-year-old winger Lee Kin-wo and 33-year-old defender Cristiano Cordeiro.

Hong Kong's Yugoslav coach Dejan Antonic is upbeat about his side's chances of going all the way.

There are no reports of prize money for the winners, who will receive the Lunar New Year Cup, while the MVP of the tournament will receive two airline tickets to Dubai.
 

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Revitalised Stewart humbled by elevation to skipper
by Ian Burnett - Jamaica Observer Sports Editor

Donald Stewart and Technical Director Bora Milutinovic

When  proudly leads his team onto the pitch against the Hong Kong League XI here today, the quality of his performance as the team's point of reference will go a far way in determining its progress.

His is a story that could aptly be described as the proverbial "stone that the builder refused, which has now become the "head corner stone".

STEWART... I have the qualities to be leader

Stewart, 31, is arguably the best defensive midfielder currently playing on the island, yet he has been overlooked by head coaches for the past eight years.

His love for the game and his invaluable leadership skills at premiership leaders Harbour View have not escaped new technical director Bora Milutinovic, who has insisted that he would be selecting players whom he considers "intelligent" ahead of others who might be more technically gifted.

Stewart, who first represented the Reggae Boyz senior team against Trinidad & Tobago in Canada 12 years ago, returns to the national team after eight years in the international wilderness, not only as a player, but as the man who will also wear the coveted captain's armband.

"Stewart will be the captain," replied Bora, as if suggesting there was no other option. "He's the eldest, I think he has so many good characteristics; he's a leader."

The Harbour View anchor midfielder, who last represented the Reggae Boyz when they visited Ghana under Brazilian Rene Simoes, expressed humility when he spoke to the Sunday Observer yesterday.

"It is a nice feeling to be back in the national team playing the game that I love," he said. "I never dreamt of being captain of the national team, but if that is what it takes then I will just have to deal with it. I have the qualities to be the leader and I will just have to flow with it, but it is a great honour for me."

He says his role in the team now is to "share" his experiences so that together they can grow as a unit, while facilitating the improvement of each member.

Stewart has been there and done that. He has represented Jamaica at both the Under-20 and Under-23 levels, before moving on to being a regular member of the Reggae Boyz squad until 1999.

He went to the World Cup Finals in France in 1998 as one of eight reserves players outside the mandatory 22-man squad.

That experience was bitter/sweet for him, as he felt hurt not to have claimed a spot in the final squad, but he says it is something he doesn't wish to comment on publicly.

Since then he was never given another chance, having performed creditably in the holding midfield role at the club level in Jamaica.

Despite the hurt, the man who was a standout for Jamaica College in the Manning Cup at central defence, said he had no choice but to soldier on "because that was my livelihood".

Now he says he holds no grudges against the coaches who didn't think he was good enough to earn a place in the pool of players. "I had to just keep doing my thing," he said, almost subconsciously willing himself to believe that he would get another chance.

After all, he is a renowned battler, who won the fight for his life, when, as a promising schoolboy player in 1994, he suffered a near fatal bout of abdominal obstruction, which required surgery.

The then 19-year-old had travelled to Colorado with the Reggae Boyz, but had to cut his trip short to return home in time to sit the CXC exams. On his way home he started feeling "belly pains" which led him to the hospital for surgery two days later.

Many felt he was never the same high quality defender again.

After recovering, Stewart played in the Syd Bartlett competition for Seaview Gardens, then he moved to Real Mona where he played Major League. He went to Olympic Gardens for one season in the NPL and then he was introduced to his current club, Harbour View, by the late Peter Cargill, after the World Cup Finals in the 1998/99 season and he hasn't looked back since. Over time he has switched position to midfield.

Having stuck to the tack as the club level, Stewart believes he's a better player now, despite being on the other side of 30.

"Age they say is wisdom and I have changed my position and now I am a better player," he said, adding that he plans to carry on as "long as the body can manage it, but right now I am coping well".

For today's game his wish is for the team to "play well, be comfortable and remain focus throughout the game".

"We have spoken, and in football each individual has his responsibility and you can't run or hide from it, you have to stand up to it and deal with it."

On his short stint with Bora thus far, he believes the players are responding very well to the Serbian coach, and over time he expects each individual's game to improve. "He emphasises the thinking of the game, he gives you a free role for you to be yourself, play within your strengths. He tells you what he would like for you to do and he inspires confidence and he backs the players.

"Hopefully, if he stays here it will work out for Jamaica. We just need to believe in him, in ourselves and in each other."
 

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Fabian Taylor back as Boyz leave for Hong Kong
by Ian Burnett - Jamaica Observer Sports Editor

Fabian Taylor in the Wray & Nephew National Premier League End of First Round Final between Harbour View and Waterhouse, Harbour View won 1 -0

After a long lay-off due to injury, Harbour View frontman  makes a return to the national outfit, being one of 20 players selected by new technical director Bora Milutinovic to travel to depart today for Hong Kong to participate in the 2007 Lunar New Year Cup from February 18-21.

Taylor, a nippy and crafty forward, will join five of his Harbour View teammates in the squad that is made up of mostly Under-23 players. His clubmates in the Reggae Boyz set up are Jermaine Taylor, Oneil Smith, Donald Stewart, Lovel Palmer and Kavin Bryan.

But the departure of the Harbour View quintet is not expected to affect the club as the Jamaica Football Federation excuses any club from their respective league if they have five or more players away on national duty.

In fact, Harbour View will have seven players in total on national duty overseas as goalkeeper Dwayne Miller is scheduled to leave next Monday with the Under-20 team for World Youth Championships qualifiers in Mexico.

The second end-of-round final between Harbour View and Reno will more than likely be postponed.

Meanwhile, four of the current crop of players in Bora's "senior" squad were not a part of the Serb's original 22, the first squad he assembled since taking office. They are Fabian Taylor, defender Dwayne Williams of Reno, midfielders Mario Swaby of Portmore United and Demar Phillips of Waterhouse.

Those not making the final cut, and whom were part of the original 22, are goalkeeper Ralston Robinson of Waterhouse, Reno's Keneil Moodie, Mardio Simpson of Arnett Gardens, Andre Lawson of Star Cosmos, Bryan Bayliss of Portmore and Arnett's Marcelino Blackburn.

With the exception of Stewart, Allien Whittaker, Richard McCallum, Palmer, Smith, Fabian Taylor and striker Kavin Bryan, all the other players in the group are Under-23 representatives, who will be preparing for Olympic Games qualification.

The 2007 Lunar New Year Cup will feature Australia, China, Jamaica (who are all appearing for the first time in the tournament) and hosts Hong Kong.

Officials on the tour to Hong Kong will be Linnel McLean (head of delegation), Bora (technical director), Wendell Downwell (coach), Howard Bell (manager) and Mark Sanderson (team doctor).

Squad: Goalkeepers - Richard McCallum (Waterhouse), Allien Whittaker (JDF); defenders - Xavian Virgo (Boys' Town), Oneil Smith (Harbour View), Jermaine Taylor (Harbour View), Dwayne Williams (Reno), Jeff Pearce (Village), Adrian Reid (Portmore), Nicora Plummer (Bull Bay), Mario Harrison (Reno); midfielders - Nicholy Finlayson (Reno), Mario Swaby (Portmore), Donald Stewart (Harbour View), Lovel Palmer (Harbour View), Demar Phillips (Waterhouse), Donovan Davis (St George's); forwards - Fabian Taylor (Harbour View), Horace Howell (Tivoli), Steven Morrissey (Portmore), Kavin Bryan (Harbour View).