KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC:
JAMAICA'S HEAD coach Carl Brown has welcomed the news that international defender Ricardo Gardner has returned to competitive football.
Gardner, sidelined for over three months after knee surgery, played in a reserve game for his English Premier League team Bolton Wanderers on Monday night against Liverpool that ended 2-2.
GREAT NEWS
"It's great news that he actually got in the game and came out of it very good, so it's good news for us," Brown said.
Jamaica's Reggae Boyz will begin their CONCACAF World Cup qualifying campaign against Haiti on June 12 and Gardner is expected to be a key component in their team plans.
"We have young Garfield Reid who has played for us in the past two games at left back, who has done very well, but I believe this is great just to hear that Ricardo is fit and ready again, and it looks like he will be ready for us on June 12," Brown said.
Gardner, signed by Bolton for one million pounds (US$1.7 million) following Jamaica's 1998 World Cup finals appearance in France, assisted on the game-equalising goal on Monday night.
He executed a brilliant cross that was diverted past Liver-pool's goalkeeper Patrice Luzi by Djimi Traore in the 83rd minute that made the game 2-2.
Brown says Gardner spent part of his rehabilitation phase in Jamaica and he was always optimistic that he would be ready for the start of Jamaica's World Cup programme.
"We had Ricardo here about a month ago for a week, himself and the Bolton trainer here doing some work on the sand (beach) which was very, very encouraging," he said.
Jamaica's Reggae Boyz continue their build up for the Haiti assignment tonight when they play Venezuela in a friendly international.
