FOCUS ON YOUTH Interim coach Speid set to name young squad for upcoming Nations League matches

President of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) Michael Ricketts says the organisation will be banking on a number of young and exciting players to lead the Reggae Boyz’ charge in their upcoming Concacaf Nations League matches.

Jamaica will host Guatemala in their opening match on September 25 before tackling Honduras three days later. Both matches will be played at the National Stadium.

The Reggae Boyz will then travel to El Salvador on October 2 and Honduras on October 5.

Ahead of today’s official announcement of the squad by head coach Rudolph Speid, Ricketts stated that he has seen the list of players selected for the matches and is impressed with the quality available to represent the country.

“They are very important from every aspect, we are looking at some young players and the coach will announce his squad on Friday and I have gotten an opportunity to get a peek at it and I think that they are some very nice young players and we are hoping that they will do well,” said Ricketts. “It is part of the preparations going into other major tournaments, the Gold Cup and, of course, the World Cup Qualifiers.” ,

He noted that the upcoming fixtures will provide an important opportunity for the young players to establish themselves at the senior international level.

“These are some very talented youngsters, I am sure and we are very hopeful that we will do well. I think we have some very exciting young players and players who are just really waiting to represent their country, and so we are highly optimistic and highly hopeful that, the next few weeks, we will see some high-quality football,” Ricketts said.

He pointed out that discussions with the coaching staff and other knowledgeable personnel have also left him encouraged about the prospects of the young players.

“Based on what I have seen and what I have read and the discussions that I had with the coach and knowledgeable people, they too are excited that these youngsters will represent well and hence they will give their best, I am sure,” he said.

Ricketts also underscored that the players must now take responsibility for making the most of the opportunity.

“It is up to them to make themselves hungry because they are really young exciting prospects that would have represented us at the youth level and I am sure that they are really yearning to get on the roster for their country,” Ricketts said.

The JFF president also pointed to the busy schedule across Jamaica’s football programmes, with the schoolboy football season and Jamaica Premier League already under way.

“The schoolboy season has just started, the Jamaica Premier League as just started and, of course, we have Nations League and then the women will have their World Cup qualifier on November 27 against Costa Rica in Texas and that will determine if we qualify for our third FIFA Women’s World Cup,” he said.