Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz continue to find a World Cup qualfier win against Panama elusive, after drawing 1-1 in their FIFA World Cup qualifier inside the National Stadium on Friday. The Jamaicans, like the Panamanians now sit on two points from as many matches heading into Tuesday’s clash against Costa Rica in San Jose. Goal of the day – Marvin Elliot Jamaica 1-1 Panama, 22’ It wasn’t until the 22nd minute that the home faithful had something to cheer about. Marvin Elliott rose to meet a Demar Phillips corner. Sending the stadium into wild celebrations. Debutant Jermaine Beckford and Luton Shelton linked up well throughout and wide man Garath McCleary found some joy on the right flank, but the Jamaicans were kept at bay by a solid Panama outfit for the remainder of the half. The visitors almost found a way back into the game straight away but Reggae Boyz captain and goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts pushed out his left leg to stop a 28th minute effort from Panama striker Blas Perez, ensuring the Jamaicans went into half-time with the 1-0 lead. Both teams came out of the locker rooms for the start of the second half in buoyant […]
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Whether at home in Jamaica or somewhere abroad, if the Reggae Boyz are playing, these are the must-haves for fans who are going to this football game. If you’ve got suggestions, thoughts or feedback regarding our list of the Top 10 must-haves for a Reggae Boyz football match above, please feel free to post them below. Top 10 Jamaica
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The VMBS Intercol Track and Field Championships which will be held on April 5-6 at the UWI/Usain Bolt Track will be launched on Tuesday March 19th, 2013 at 11:00am in the Principal’s Council Room (above the Admissions office) at the University of the West Indies. The launch will be an opportunity to inform the public of the exciting event details and new developments as well as to kick start the ‘Journey to Kazan” Campaign. “The championship is the largest event held by Intercol on the sporting calendar; it brings together most of the schools within the association competing in the sport of Track and Field over a period of two days. This meet features over 25 national representatives including Olympians and a number of the nation’s top rising stars in the sport including Rasheed Dwyer, Jordan Forte, Traves Smickle, Jenevive Russell, Carrie Russell, Jason Young and Hansle Parchment. Athletes such as Asafa Powell, Sherone Simpson, Shericka Williams, Rosemarie Whyte and a host of other Jamaican stars have competed at this meet over the years during their transition from high school to professional sport.” says Rashid C. Hall, Marketing and Scholarship The UWI Sports Department
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Huddersfield striker Jermaine Beckford says he is fit and ready for CONCACAF World Cup Qualification battle against Panama on Friday at the National Stadium. Match time is 8:30 p.m. Beckford could make his international debut for Jamaica after he was replaced in the squad that played against Mexico last month at the high-altitude Azteca Stadium. The 29-year-old was ruled out after sustaining a hamstring injury in an English Championship game against Crystal Palace late January. Having recovered from injury, Beckford played the last 20 minutes for his club against Leeds United on Saturday. That was his first game since the injury that kept him out for six weeks. Now Beckford says he is ready. I played on Saturday for about 20 minutes against Rodolph Austin (Reggae Boy) at Leeds and it felt good. Now I am fit, ready and confident. I can’t wait to score goals for Jamaica,” he told The Gleaner at the Reggae Boyz’s first training session since regrouping at UWI yesterday. HIGH EXPECTATIONS “Nobody has higher expectations than I have for myself in terms of coming out and putting on a performance and doing what I have to do in the game,” Beckford confidently stated. Although […]
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Donovan Ricketts remembers the summer of 1998 well: “People ask me about France ’98, ask me to make comparisons to that team in every interview I do,” the veteran goalkeeper told FIFA.com with a kindly laugh, recalling Jamaica’s first and only trip to a FIFA World Cup. “It was a long time ago, and I was very young.” Ricketts’ teammates in the current Jamaica team watched the ‘98 Boyz huddled around TVs in their neighbourhoods, playing and carrying on with their friends in the streets. They were just boys and they dreamed recklessly of being the ones on those screens someday. But Ricketts was there in the flesh, a 20-year-old back-up goalkeeper soaking it all in from the bench. “The experience was crazy,” said Ricketts, now with Major League Soccer’s Portland Timbers. “It meant so much to Jamaica and to me.” “That team from ’98 was a better team than now,” added Ricketts, now 35, vice captain, and approaching a century of caps. “Most of us were playing our club football in Jamaica, so we were together in camp day in and day out,” he said of that 1998 side, coached by Brazilian Rene Simoes, that captured the world’s attention. […]
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On March 22 Jamaica will take on Panama at the National Stadium (The Office). This will be their 1st home match of the final round of the CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers, also known as the Hexagonal. For Jamaica to guarantee a top 3 spot and automatically qualify for Brazil in 2014, Jamaica must aim to get 18 points to cement and book their tickets to the 20th edition of the FIFA World Cup. The Office has proven to be a fortress for Jamaica in World Cup Qualifiers especially in recent times as Jamaica has won each of their last 7 World Cup Qualifiers at the Office. The streak started against Bahamas in June 2008 and ended most recently against Antigua and Barbuda in October 2012. So Jamaica will be looking to make it 8 games as the country faces Panama in Theodore Whitmore’s 54th game in charge of the Reggae Boyz. The Jamaican national Stadium alongside the Estadio Azteca and Columbus Crew Stadium has proven to be the most daunting venues in the CONCACAF region and with the Reggae Boyz having an asset namely The Office, the Jamaicans will be happy to have an advantage where the crowd support is […]
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The country’s football programme has received a well-needed boast ahead of the final round of CONCACAF qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup. International soft drink brand, Coca-Cola, came on board with a sponsorship package to the tune of US$1.6 million (approximately J$149m) over a six-year period. The sponsorship deal includes cash, products, performance incentives, promotional support and global activations, as Jamaica now shares a common bond with great football nations such as Argentina and Germany, which are also sponsored by the global brand. “It is a great pleasure to announce an exciting and dynamic partnership between Coke and the Jamaica Football Federation,” managing director of Wisynco Group Limited, William Mahfood, announced during yesterday’s press launch at the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) headquarters. long-term investment Shermin Peters, senior market development manager of Coca-Cola Company, pointed out that the company’s sponsorship of the country’s national team is a continuity of their commitment across the region. “This is more than just Coca-Cola being the official sparkling soft beverage of football in Jamaica,” Peters expressed. “This is about a long-term investment in Jamaica and it’s people, and it’s an extension of the Coca-Cola company’s commitment to promoting active lifestyles among youths and families.” The […]
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