Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter
Robbie Earle poses with copies of his books which documented the story of the Reggae Boyz and their historic World Cup appearance in 1998. - FILE
FORMER JAMAICAN international Robbie Earle has slammed the approach taken by the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) to developing football since qualifying for the 1998 World Cup in France.
Earle, who made history when he became the first Jamaican to score at a World Cup Finals when he netted in a 3-1 defeat to Croatia, thinks that the 6-0 mauling of the country at the hands of World Cup-bound England is evidence that Jamaica has not done enough to develop Jamaica's football programme since qualifying for the tournament eight years ago.
RESISTANCE
"The Jamaicans were disappointing in the lack of resistance they put up," Earle told the Guardian Unlimited, referring to the encounter played a little under a week ago.
"It shows how much Jamaica have fallen behind since we qualified for the World Cup in 1998." he added.
Earle, who currently works in television as a commentator and pundit for ITV, believes that more should have been done with the money acquired from the countries historical qualification for the tournament.
"No long-term view has been taken since then and the money raised as a result of our qualification wasn't properly invested into the grass roots," he stated.
"We're not seeing talent coming through."
PROBLEMS
Earle, 41, went on to say that the problems Jamaica face are a bit more than tactical.
Earle was awarded a Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1999 and since retiring from the game in 2000 has also been involved in a number of off-pitch activities including becoming an honorary patron for the Campaign Against Racism in Football. Earle also took the time out to commend England for a solid performance against Jamaica and believes it will be a positive headed into the tournament.
"England did what they had to do and it will give them a lot of confidence to win any game 6-0," he said.
England open their World Cup campaign with a match against Paraguay tomorrow in Frankfurt.
