Boyz gear-up for tough game
published: Tuesday | March 30, 2004

By Paul-Andre Walker, Staff Reporter

JAMAICA WILL go into tomorrow's friendly against Honduras at the National Stadium a few players short of their invitation roster.

Jermaine Hue and Darren Byfield were both injured recently and will not be available, while Onandi Lowe and Micah Hyde, though not deemed seriously hurt, have not yet been passed fit to play.

The squad is completed with Tyrone Marshall, Garfield Reid, Fabian Davis, Damani Ralph, Jermaine Johnson, Damian Stewart, Andy Williams, Jonathan Williams, Gerald Neil, Ian Goodison, Aaron Lawrence, Ricardo Fuller, Cornel Chin-Sue, Micah Hyde, Richard Langley, Craig Ziade, and in the absence of Donovan Ricketts who was expected last night, Ralston Robinson. In the meantime, national technical director, Carl Brown, is expecting a good contest.

"We are preparing for a tough match against the Hondurans. We know that they are not going to come here just for a fun game with us, it's going to be tough, it's going to be hard like we've always had hard games against them."

He added: "I think it will be a very good game for us particularly at this time with the qualifiers months away," said Brown.

The Hondurans were expected to arrive last night, having already named a squad boasting eight players from pro leagues besides their own. Their squad includes Julio Cesar and David Suazo, who play in Italy, Milton "Tyson" Nunes, Danilo Turcios, Nimrod Medina, and Carlos Pavon, who all play in Mexico, Ivan Guerrero and Edgar Alvarez, who both play in Uruguay, and Amando Guevera, who plies his trade for the New York/New Jersey MetroStars.

Honduras have a new coach in Bora Milutinovic, who has the reputation of coaching five different teams at the World Cup finals in Mexico, China, Yugoslavia, Costa Rica and Nigeria.

"They (Honduras) come with a new coach in Bora and we know how tricky and wily he is and that is what we'll have to be playing and paying close attention to, what it is that Bora has to offer."

Following the team's 2-0 win over Uruguay on February 18, Brown is cognisant of maintaining high standards.

"I spoke to the team and I told them that we have set standards. In our game against Uruguay we literally set the stage and the expectations of the Jamaican public and that is what we want to repeat or even better," he said.

The last time the teams played Honduras came out 1-0 winners in Tegulcigalpa, Honduras.