Having ended their truncated Asian tour on a losing note, Coach Theodore Whitmore and his troops will now turn their attention to the CONCACAF Gold Cup, but with a bit of uncertainty.
Members of the contingent, including coach Whitmore who arrived in Montego Bay earlier this week, ended their Asian tour on a disappointing note, thrashed 4-0 by Japan’s Olympic team on Saturday.
Whitmore speaking following his arrival in the second city added that there is much still to consider ahead of the tournament, namely the fitness level of the team and the availability of some of the England-based players to be able to make the final cut for the tournament, because of passport issues.
“Match readiness, physical conditioning of the unit, camaraderie of the team and chemistry are some of the other things we have to look at and were hoping to sort out ahead of the Gold Cup set to get off in another four weeks”, Whitmore said.
Whitmore further declared “ It will be a risk selecting players going into the Gold Cup, not knowing the condition of the players. The deadline for the provisional 60-man squad was on Monday, June 14.
Coach Whitmore has also called on the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) to attend to things off the field as well as on it, as the team turns its attention to the tournament, set to run from July 10 through to August 1 in the United States.
Jamaica, who will contest Group C, have Costa Rica and another team that will be promoted through the Gold Cup Preliminary Round tournament.
They will kick off against Suriname on July 12 at Exploria Stadium in Orlando,Florida.
