Sport

Boyz fail against U.S. again

By GORDON WILLIAMS, Contributor

Andy Williams - file

HE HAD SEEN it all before. So many times, in fact, that Andy Williams was starting to have bad feelings as early as the sixth minute.

That's when the United States scored a fluke opening goal against Jamaica in the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarter final, winning the mental battle against the Reggae Boyz and eventually the 'war' to decide which team advanced in the tournament.

"After that first goal everybody kinda went down," said the captain, who has played against the U.S. numerous times, from the youth to senior levels, and has never left the field a winner against the Americans.

The fact is, no Jamaican team has ever beaten the U.S. in football at any level, and Williams thinks the losses may be becoming rooted in the psychology of national teams.

"I think it is in our head mentally," he told The Star outside the stadium locker room after the latest loss. "Seriously."

"It's not like the Reggae Boyz trotted onto the Gillette Stadium field in Foxboro, Massachusetts thinking they could not win," Williams explained.

Defender Tyrone Marshall, while on his way out the tunnel for warm-ups before the game, was asked if all was well in the Jamaican camp. He shouted back: "We're going to deal with them (the U.S.) today."

Jamaica did not. And it seems like the jinx, Murphy's Law, kicked in again.

No matter how well the Boyz prepare, something always seems to pop up which prevents Jamaica from emerging with victory against the Americans.

Examples abound, most notably the "phantom" penalty during the 1998 "Road to France" campaign when the kick was awarded to the U.S. although Ian Goodison's challenge was well outside the box at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. That match ended 1-1. More recently, Jamaica snatched a draw from the jaws of victory with pure defensive bungling in the final minutes of last year's home World Cup tie against the U.S. In the return leg in November, the chilly Columbus, Ohio temperatures that greeted Jamaica for the must-win match only helped to derail victory plans.

In last Saturday's game, the early goal may have added to the legacy of the jinx, a harmless shot, seemingly headed straight for keeper Donovan Ricketts, was suddenly deflected by Josh Wolff - who was not facing the goal - into the far corner.

That setback was compounded by Williams's penalty miss almost immediately after. If the captain had scored, the Boyz would have been right back on even terms. Instead, they were pushed back on their heels - mentally and physically. As Williams explained, the tame shot handled by U.S. goalie Kasey Keller resulted from his own doubt, losing a mind game which "Yeah, definitely. It was a weak shot," admitted captain, who announced his retirement from the international game and so may never get another shot to beat the U.S. "I kinda changed my mind from the last time, because last November he was in the goal when I scored the last PK so I figured he would try and go the same way I went last time, so I kinda switched up this time."

Wrong move. Even after an inspired performance against CONCACAF's top gun Mexico days earlier, Saturday's result seemed almost inevitable, especially because Jamaica just happened to be the most travelled team in the competition up to that point - moving through venues in California (twice), Houston, Texas and Foxboro - to play four games in about a week. Just like old times, the U.S. jinx was on, or so it seemed.

"I don't think the players honestly believe so, but once you start on a bad foot you're kinda looking like 'here we go again'," the man the called "Bomber" explained.

The penalty miss sunk Jamaica into a funk early, one the team only managed to scrape itself from after half time. "(After) the penalty (miss)...they (the Boyz) went even further down," said Williams. "We kinda picked it up (in the second half), but we started playing too late."

Way late, indeed, against a well organised U.S. team which refuses to beat itself. Even after being down a player when Ben Olsen received a red card in the 58th minute, the Americans never wavered from their mission. Fortune was on their side too, as Khari Stephenson's curling free kick smacked the post with Keller beaten.

But whatever edge the Boyz may have had was quickly dashed by a rash tackle by Jermaine Taylor, which also earned him an ejection, and both teams were equal again, just when Jamaica had started to look more decisive.

Call it fate. But again the Americans were better on the day. Somehow, it always seems they are against Jamaica.

- Gordon Williams is a Jamaican journalist based in the United States.