de Oliveira By Tym Glaser,
Associate Editor - Sport
JAMAICA'S HEART-BREAKING 2-1 loss to the United States in their first final-round Under-17 World Cup qualifying match in St. Louis, Missouri on Wednesday night has not dimmed the enthusiasm of national technical director Clovis de Oliveira.
Facing a do-or-die clash with El Salvador today at 5:00 p.m. (Jamaica time), the Brazilian yesterday showered the young Boyz with praise for their efforts against the favoured hosts - and he was not alone.
"The coaches of Canada and El Salvador (the two other teams in this ultimate phase of qualifying from which one side will advance to the finals) called to me after the game and were very impressed," de Oliveira said yesterday before a training session. "They expected us to get beat by five or six goals but we gave them (the US) a very hard time," he said.
Jamaica's Under-17s played two game against Canada in St. Elizabeth in mid-March. The first was a 1-1 draw, the second a 4-0 thumping by the tourists. It was Canada's coach who was most impressed with the team's rapid improvement.
"He asked me what had happened," de Oliveira said. "He said it was like two different teams - the one in Jamaica and the one here. Our training camp in Brazil really helped and it's just sad we could not get the win.
"We scored first and I told the players at halftime to watch out for the dead-ball plays. Unfortunately, they scored from a penalty and then a header from a corner.
"Still, I am very pleased with the way they performed. Everyone played well. I don't like to single out players but young (Luton) Shelton was amazing, he scored the goal. He beat the entire defence. He has been scoring for us all the time from Brazil until now," he said.
Jamaica's wafer-thin chance of advancing to the Cup finals in Trinidad and Tobago later this year hinges on a victory today against the Central Americans.
"We know a fair bit about them because we saw them in the first game against Canada," de Oliveira said of the opening match of the doubleheader which ended 1-1.
"We studied them and know their strengths and weaknesses.
"The nature of that game changed when Canada were reduced to 10 men but we could see that El Salvador's midfielders need to be marked tight," he said.
"Their defence is also very strong. They start a lot of their attacks from the back but sometimes they don't pass so well, so we plan to capitalise on that."
A loss or draw today would all but eliminate Jamaica from Cup contention.
"It is very much do-or-die for us but I feel very good about the team," de Oliveira said.
The US play Canada in the night cap at 7:00.
