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Coach thinks Valeo learn from Portugal experience
July 13, 2023
Coach of Valeo Academy Kemar Daley believes the players and himself have gained knowledge and experience participating in the under-18 IberCup in Portugal, despite losing in the final last weekend.
Valeo under-18 boys were defeated 5-4 on penalties in the final after battling to a 0-0 draw with Villa Madrid, a mixed team from Villarreal and Real Madrid in Spain.
Daley contends that the experience counted the most, instead of the top prize.
"What we experienced was that each team is tough. They play with a lot of aggression and use a lot of pace.
"We had to stick to our game plan of high press, closing down open lanes and use our speed and skilful players in areas where they were aggressive," he pointed out.
He said that some of the lessons learnt on the tour were employed in the games and helped to propel them to the final.
"For the players and I, we learnt to maintain our focus, be disciplined, work together and be mentally tough, and that helped us to move forward each game," Daley said.
Competing against teams from Argentina, Portugal and Spain at the group stage, the Jamaicans were big underdogs and were never expected to be in the deciding match.
Daley, however, thought they developed well throughout the competition.
"I believe we performed very well over the tournament. Our performance throughout the competition was intense. We knew that our aggressiveness and hard work would help us game by game, and with that, we were able to dominate some tough teams in the group, like Don Juan of Argentina and Estori Portugal-B. So the boys carried out instructions that we practised tactically," he said.
He also thought they had a good game in the final.
"We started a little slow because of the cold weather, but we gradually built up because we knew we came to make the entire Valeo proud," he added.
