Sporting Alert – After the unacceptable performance at home in the first leg, Jamaica will look to get the job done on the road against Nicaragua in their CONCACAF World Cup Third Round Qualifier on Tuesday night.
The Reggae Boyz are in danger of missing out on progressing to the group stage of the qualifiers after losing 3-2 in Kingston, a week ago and need to score at least twice in the second leg.
The confidence is high in the Jamaica camp, but so was it for the first leg and we all saw what happened there.
“I think we had anticipated a better result in Kingston, but that wasn’t the case,” team manager Roy Simpson said in the Jamaica Observer.
“Difficult in the sense that you are coming to Nicaragua and in football home advantage is usually paramount to what you do, but I think the difficulty in it is trying to have the players bounce back and get them to a level which they are at, and let them understand that this is a do or die situation, go hard or go home.”
Simpson said the players have already put the shocking home defeat from last Friday behind them and are now focused on getting the result needed to move into the Fourth Round of the qualifying campaign.
“I think we are ready and I think on Tuesday,” he said in the newspaper. “It will be difficult, but I think the players understand and are committed and still believe and know that Russia 2018 is still the focus.”
Should Jamaica fail to get past the Third Round of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying campaign, it would certainly put a lot of pressure on head Coach Winfried Schaefer and his technical staff.
“I’m looking for the best formation because we have to make pressure against the defence from Nicaragua, but we can’t play by just running,” Schaefer was quoted as saying.
“We have to play with intelligence, with discipline on the field by using the wings, having good cross balls, good corners, and passes to the strikers who have to move.”
Elsewhere, in other Third Round of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers, St. Vincent and the Grenadines take a 2-0 lead into their game against Aruba, Canada hold a commanding 3-0 lead heading into their clash with Belize, while Haiti lead Grenada 3-1.
Third Round of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying
Full Second Leg Schedule For Sep. 8
5:00pm Haiti vs Grenada
7:00pm Aruba vs St. Vincent and the Grenadines
8:00pm Belize vs Canada
8:30pm Nicaragua vs Jamaica
8:35pm El Salvador vs Curaçao
9:06pm Guatemala vs Antigua and Barbuda
