They’re Feeling Good in Upstart Jamaica
I was wandering in the tunnel that circles beneath RFK Stadium on Friday night when I ran into the happiest man in Washington.
No, it wasn’t Al Gore, Marion Barry or even Ron Wilson.
This man has a title. They call him captain, although no one is really sure why. Capt. Horace Burrell, to be exact. President of the Jamaican Football Federation.
And the reason the captain was willing to stop and talk was simple. Jamaica’s national team had just turned in a performance of almost Brazilian proportions. It had tied the United States, 1-1, in front of a sellout crowd of 51,528, and greatly enhanced its chances of qualifying for France ’98.
Jamaica’s World Cup fate will be determined in its final two games against El Salvador and Mexico, but on the strength of one evening’s performance, one coach’s delighted response and one captain’s comments, I hope the islanders make it.
France ’98 will be a better tournament with a little Caribbean flavor, a little hint of Bob Marley and the Blue Mountains.
There is always a need in any sport for the underdog to have its day. And if Jamaica’s “from rastas to riches” story has a happy ending, we should all wear a smile.
It does not matter that the Jamaicans found “the promised land,” in evangelical Coach Rene Simoes’ words, by discovering four soccer-playing Englishmen with island roots willing to come to Jamaica’s rescue.
The team was floundering before it happened upon Deon Burton, Paul Hall, Fitzroy Simpson and Robbie Earle.
So, I asked the captain, what took you so long to find them?
“I’m very glad that you have asked this question,” Burrell beamed. “You see, nobody jumps on a sinking ship. I have been president of the Jamaican Football Federation for almost three years now and the interest demonstrated by these players was really almost nil.
“However, it is my view that realizing that Jamaica had an outstanding chance [of reaching the World Cup], they then decided to come on board.”
Staying with nautical theme, the captain then pointed out other top players in England who, based on their parentage or grand-parentage, could have represented Jamaica had they so chosen.
“For example,” he said, “Ian Wright, who is a striker for England, is from Kingston. He’s a Kingston boy. [Former England forward] John Barnes is a Kingston boy. And so are many other athletes.
“Linford Christie is a boy from Kingston on top of the hill who went to England. Ben Johnson, Donovan Bailey. And so I think Jamaica has been blessed with an abundance of talent. However, if it is not apparent to these athletes that you’re really serious, then I don’t think they are going to want to join your squad in their homeland.
“However, once we got this serious program going [especially by luring Simoes from Brazil to coach the team], then they all demonstrated an interest. And I can tell you that at this time we have at least 15 players who are now wanting to join the Jamaican team. We could recruit an entire team out of England.
“However, we also have to give home-grown talent a lot of commendation because what I have discovered is that these players [the four from England] have come here and added a lot of discipline and courage and professionalism to the local lads. So it’s an amalgamation which has now mushroomed into a single unit which can perform effectively on the field of play.”
So there you have it. The secret of Jamaica’s success. English mushrooms transplanted to Jamaica and cared for by a Brazilian before being shipped to France.
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The highlight of Friday’s game was not the penalty kick mistakenly awarded to the United States by Chilean referee Mario Fernando Sanchez (the foul occurred outside the penalty area). Nor was it Eric Wynalda’s subsequent goal, his 31st for the national team.
It certainly wasn’t Jeff Agoos’ dreadful defensive error that allowed Burton to tie the score. “It was like living your worst nightmare in slow motion,” Agoos said. “I take full responsibility for it.”
No, the highlight was the appearance in the interview room of Simoes, who had spent the game dancing and gesticulating on the sideline, all the while wearing a white sweatshirt with the words “Jesus Saves” boldly emblazoned on the back. Of course, had the U.S. forwards forced Jamaican goalkeeper Warren Barrett to make a few saves of his own, perhaps Simoes might not have been so upbeat.
The Brazilian coach is a lively character, quick-witted and always ready with a punch line, as befitting his Groucho-like looks.
“It’s not customary that coaches of this level would come to a third-world country like Jamaica,” Burrell said. “I think God is on our side and we’ve been very lucky to have a coach like Rene Simoes. Tactically, he knew everything about every one of the American players.
“He knew where the passes would go. He knew who would pass the ball to whom. He studied that and worked with his players for many weeks and we see the result.” Because of the 15,000 to 20,000 yellow-and-green-clad Jamaican fans in the stands, it was suggested to Simoes that this was not really a road game.
“It was away game,” he insisted in his fractured but perfectly understandable English. “It’s very important everybody understands what means away game. Because every day when I wake up, I have my wife beside me. When I come here, I was alone.
“When I take my breakfast, I can smell Jamaica breakfast. Here, we brought our chef, but is not the same.”
The RFK Stadium field--unlike Jamaica’s narrow, rock-hard and bumpy field in Kingston--also drew Simoes’ attention.
“My dream is to have a field like that,” he said. “Because my team played real football on a real field. We know how to play, we enjoy playing. I have a dream. I have a dream that in six to eight months we have a field like that in Jamaica where my players can perform.”
Asked the significance in sporting terms of Jamaica’s success against the United States, Simoes sprung a surprise.
“Nobody is so small that you cannot fight a big fight,” he said. “I believe in hopes and dreams. And hard work. There is something I read yesterday in the Pat Riley book. I’m in love with this book, ‘The Winner Within.’ He said only in the dictionary success comes before work. That’s very important.”
Pat Riley being quoted at a soccer game. Is nothing sacred?
