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September 08, 2008
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Wolry Wolfe
(left) Jermaine Hue (centre) and Demar Phillips go through
their paces at the Francisco Mozaron Stadium in san Pedro Sula,
Honduras, last night in preparation for Wednesday's World Cup
qualifier against the hosts. |
San Pedro Sula, Honduras –
The Reggae Boyz went someway last night in lifting themselves up
for Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier against Honduras here on
Wednesday when they held a spirited training session at the
Francisco Marazon Stadium, site of the 1996 clash between the two
teams. Training Time was 7:30.
Sitting at the bottom of their
four-team group B CONCACAF semi-final round qualifiers with one
point but with an inferior goal difference to Canada – also on one
point – are in need of at least a point to retain their chances of
finishing in the top two of the group. Mexico lead the group with
six points from two games following their 3-0 defeat of the Reggae
Boyz after stopping Honduras in their first game. Honduras are
second after recording an away win over Canada on Sunday last.
Cognisant of their position, the
Boyz wasted little time in getting back to business. After a
two-hour flight from Mexico and a one hour wait at the airport
clearing immigration and customs, they had lunch after a 20-minute
drive to the hotel and rested for a few hours before heading off
to training.
Training was conducted in two
groups. For the players who played the entire 90 minutes against
Mexico on Sunday, with the exception of goalkeeper Donovan
Ricketts, central defensive rock Ian Goodison and captain Ricardo
Gardner, a pool session supervised by Physical Trainer Sean
Samuels was the order of the evening.
The others headed to the
Francisco Mozaron Stadium where they were under the guidance of
Assistant coaches Alfredo Montesso, Theodore Whitmore and
Francisco Oliveira. Goalkepers Ricketts and Shawn Sawyers were put
through their paces by Oliveira while the outfield players went
through drills which emphasized keeping possession and maintaining
composure under pressure in tight spaces.
That was followed by a half field
attacking drill with the attack starting in defense, working
through the midfield with the flank midfielders sending in some
teasing crosses which were finished off by the forwards or the
midfielders as the team swept forward in unison while maintaining
its shape. The players showed no signs of tiredness as they went
about their duties eagerly. Luton Shelton looked fired up and
clinical in this drill while Jermaine Hue was the epitome of
composure.
Goodison who was on the receiving
end of a savage tackle from Mexico captain Rafael Marquez sat out
the training session while being attended to by Masseur Juan Pablo
Camargo and Physiotherapist Jair Lyons. Captain Ricardo, also
nursing an injury, received treatment on the sidelines as well.
A full training session is
scheduled for today at match time 7:30 (8:30 Jamaica time) at the
same venue.
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