LeVaughn Flynn and Paul-André Walker
WILLIAMS... Tired towards the end and tucked himself neatly behind Fuller and Ralph. - IAN ALLEN/Staff Photographer
AFTER BEING three minutes away from a momentous victory over the United States at The Office on Wednesday night, Jamaica had a split-second mental lapse which turned Everest-type dreams to despair for an entire nation.
We all saw it. Jamaica played one of their best games and everyone wanted them to cap it with a victory over the Americans - a feat they are yet to accomplish.
Instead, they had to settle for a 1-1 tie, as the visitors equalised in the 89th minute.
Despite that, JFF boss Crenston Boxhill said he "would give the team an A grade" and technical director Carl Brown backed coach Sebastiao Lazaroni and his decisions by saying "this is the best coach we have got out of Brazil ... I am certain he will continue to improve the team."
But how does each player rate when their individual play is broken down?
DONOVAN RICKETTS: Was a commanding presence between the posts up until the 89th minute when Brian Ching slotted home the equalising goal for the US. He had a fairly quiet night though as only three shots were fired at him. He also came out for the crosses in more commanding fashion than usual.
CLAUDE DAVIS: Was aggressive in his role of denying the Americans scoring opportunities. He held his own and did his share of the work his heroics he was easily the best player on the field for the Jamaicans.
IAN GOODISON: Like Davis, was aggressive and dictated the backline in his role as a stopper. He served up a few sliding tackles much to the crowd's delight and of course got the all important goal for Jamaica on which the nation hinged its hopes on. However, it was his lack of composure whenever he won the ball that would serve to help the US maintain pressure. As a matter of fact, it was one of his erratic clearances that saw the US get the all-important equaliser.
FABIAN DAVIS: Not one of 'Fabulous's' better games. As good an athlete as he is, young DaMarcus Beasely outran and outplayed Davis for the entire night. Some football pundits reason that Davis would be more effective in midfield instead of his present position at right-back. He did, however, show maturity in not allowing himself to be red carded after having to foul Beasley on a number of plays in order to stop the US's momentum.
THEODORE WHITMORE: 'Tappa' looked brilliant on the ball, 'shiffing' and dancing, at times, through the American defence. However, as the midfielder and captain, Whitmore needed to be more visible and a better orchestrator in leading his team into battle. Whitmore was also guilty of not pulling the trigger on the final pass, much to the consternation of the fans.
MICAH HYDE: After missing Jamaica's second leg match against Haiti due to "miscommunication", one would have thought he would come out with more zeal. His fire went out after 45 minutes and he, like Whitmore, pulled off a disappearing act in the second-half that left a hole in the midfield that the US and Claudio Reyna were only too happy to exploit.
TYRONE MARSHALL: Was also not his usual commanding self, and while he didn't make any significant errors, he also didn't make any significant impact on Jamaica's attempts at going forward. Towards the latter part of the game he was also guilty of sitting back on the defenders and allowing the US midfield too much room to create opportunities.
DAMANI RALPH: Is yet to score a goal for Jamaica. With his talent and obvious abilities one would think he would have. However, there is no real pressure on him to score and at times he seems to be trying too hard to find the back of the net. He can be accused of not exploiting a particular opportunity that tactical analyst Rick Figueredo called 'the turning point in the game'. He tapped a ball wide from point-blank range after Ricardo Fuller had set him up beautifully.
MARLON KING: Bruce Arena and his staff apparently did their homework on him. With four goals in two games (against Haiti), the striker was hardly allowed breathing space to add to his tally. At times he was surrounded by three defenders and only got one real chance in the 12th minute when he sent a shot wide.
ANDY WILLIAMS: For many years he has been the man in the middle who is expected to make all the 'big passes'. On Wednesday night, while he didn't have a bad game, one cannot remember a telling pass from the midfielder. He was not given the space or the room to do so and the referee was not about to listen to his constant appeals for fouls. He also tired towards the end and tucked himself neatly behind Fuller and Ralph well out of the line of fire.
RICARDO GARDNER: 'Bibi' is said not to be playing to the high expectations that the public has for him. However, truth be told, he did a fairly good job on dealing with the pace of Earnie Smith and Landon Donovan. That job took much away from his attacking capabilities although he still showed moments of enterprise.
RICARDO FULLER: With only 30 minutes of action and battling with knee injuries, Fuller still managed to have an impact on the game. If Ralph were able to capitalise on Fuller's brilliant work in the US 18-yard box then the story would have been different today.
