Carl Brown - file

Los Angeles, CALIFORNIA:

Former Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) technical director, Carl Brown, believes the Reggae Boyz are a talented bunch, but need to tighten up on a few areas to strengthen their chances of a first-time Gold Cup win.

Brown is currently TD of the Cayman Islands FA. The Jamaica team recently held a one-week training camp in Grand Cayman, where they played two matches against the Caymanian national team and an all-star selection. They won 4-1 against the nationals and were leading the All-Stars 5-0 when the match was blown off in pouring rain, accompanied by lightning.

"They've got a lot of talent," Brown had said after the 4-1 winning display.

"With the Gold Cup just days away, I'm just probably a bit worried about the back line, it really needs better coordination around there," he observed.

"I hear coach Whitmore said that better players will use the space that we saw, particularly that they're playing with three at the back there. But I'm really happy with what I saw, the authority with which we see people like Stew Peas (Damion Stewart) and Claude (Davis) playing augurs very, very well for the team."

Brown, who also coached many of the players, said he was also impressed by other facets of the team.

"In midfield there are some young players, very talented players. The mobility inside there was very, very good and it's just an upward trend of the Jamaica team and just how far they've grown."

He added: "This is a great improvement in past national teams that we've seen. The movement off the ball is very, very good and we just have to keep working at it.

This is going to be very important when they hit the Gold Cup scene."

Twelve countries are participating and looking at the field, Brown says Jamaica must strategise well to conquer the big teams.

"I believe if you look at what has happened in recent times with Central American teams, we've a chance of beating the El Salvadors. Once we face the Costa Ricas and the Honduras' and the United States', then we've to plan for them," he reasoned.

Team results

Jamaica 1 Canada 1

13/03/1985 Montego Bay

Jamaica 0 Canada 4

05/04/1988 Kingston

Canada 3 Jamaica 2

03/07/1991 Los Angeles

Jamaica 1 Canada 1

18/10/1992 Kingston

Canada 1 Jamaica 0

01/11/1992 Toronto

Canada 3 Jamaica 1

01/08/1995 Toronto

Canada 0 Jamaica 0

27/04/1997 Vancouver

Jamaica 1 Canada 0

07/09/1997 Kingston

Canada 1 Jamaica 0

02/09/1999 Toronto

Canada 1 Jamaica 0

04/09/2006 Montreal

Jamaica 2 Canada 1

08/10/2006 Kingston

Canada 1 Jamaica 1

20/08/2008 Toronto

Jamaica 3 Canada 0

19/11/2008 Kingston