Theodore Whitmore - file

LOS ANGELES, California:

Reggae Boyz head coach, Theodore Whitmore, is not worried about the late assembly of his squad ahead of the Gold Cup football tournament.

Jamaica will kick off the 12-nation CONCACAF championship against Canada in the opening match of a double header at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles tomorrow at 5 p.m. (7 p.m. Jamaica time).

"In situations like these we've to learn how to accept it," Whitmore said as his team rolled into California, on the eve of the tournament yesterday.

The opening day feature matches El Salvador and Costa Rica, the other teams in Jamaica's group, in a 7 p.m. (9 p.m. Ja time) kick-off.

different clubs

Eleven players travelled from Jamaica to Miami on Tuesday and the same number moved on as a group to the west coast yesterday, where the other members of the 20-man squad rolled in from the United States and Europe, where they were on duty with their clubs.

"You've players with different clubs so we've to focus our minds," Whitmore explained. "We know what we want, we know where we're going from here so we just have to go out there and do what we've to do."

Of the 11 who departed from Jamaica for Miami on Tuesday, two of the players, Jermaine Johnson and Damion Stewart, arrived on a later flight after they had missed their original trip out of Kingston.

Both players had checked in at the Norman Manley International Airport on Monday for the 12:15 p.m. departure, cleared the security checkpoint and customs and had been in the airport lobby, but they did not board the flight and were found to be missing when the team gathered for a head count in the United States.

Johnson and Stewart took a later flight into Miami, but missed a light training session that was held in the Florida city shortly after the team's arrival.

Whitmore said they will be penalised.

"What happened with Jermaine Johnson and Damion Stewart, all I can say for now is that they will be heavily fined.

He added: "We want to send a message across to the other players that we're in a no-nonsense mood.

"There's nothing to explain. Even before we had checked through it was the last announcement, so there's no excuse," Whitmore added in reference to a boarding call.

"Everybody was in the lobby and were ready to depart, so there's no excuse and they'll be heavily fined."

Whitmore pointed out that Stewart and Johnson, as well as Ricardo Fuller and Luton Shelton, had already been fined on the team's tour of the Cayman Islands.

maintain order

"We've a thing coming from the Cayman Islands where we want to bring it straight into the Gold Cup in terms of the discipline," he said, pointing to the coaching staff's modus operandi as it seeks to maintain order within its ranks.

The nine who made the scheduled Miami flight were Ricardo Gardner, Dwayne Miller, Demar Phillips, Jamal Campbell-Ryce, Luton Shelton, Eric Vernan, Rafe Wolfe, Claude Davis and Jason Morrison.

Oneil Thompson, goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts, Nicholas Addlery, Tyrone Marshall, Omar Cummings, Rudolph Austin and Dane Richards joined the team yesterday afternoon at the Marriott hotel, where it is based in Los Angeles, ahead of a late evening training session.

Ricardo Fuller, who remained in Jamaica to honour a previous commitment, was due last night.

veteran defender

The other member of the tournament squad, veteran defender Ian Goodison, is still in Jamaica awaiting his passport, which was sent to the Home Office in Britain with his application for a work permit, and is expected to depart as soon as he gets it.

The Jamaicans had a light workout in Miami where it rained heavily and for long periods on Tuesday, and Gardner, who had remained in Jamaica to treat a hamstring injury, got involved and looked quite brisk, while Campbell-Ryce, who had been granted permission to holiday in Britain, did some extra drills after the group was finished.

"He was a little injured, (he had) a nagging injury but I think he's gotten over it now," Whitmore said of Gardner's progress. "He did some work at home with his personal trainer so probably match fitness would be his problem. But we've players here so we'll see if he can play 60-70 minutes. If he can play the 90 minutes then that would be fine."

Regarding Campbell-Ryce, Whitmore noted: "I don't think he's 100 per cent, but we've a squad of 20 so we just have to select the best 11 who are ready to go out there and represent the country."