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Simoes pens his journey with Jamaica
July 13, 2023
Rene Simoes, who led Jamaica to the 1998 World Cup in France, will release a book depicting his epic journey with the Caribbean nation from 1994 until he departed in 2000.
Simoes revealed that the book, written and published by a Jamaican, is dedicated to the late former Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) president Captain Horace Burrell, his indomitable spirit and never-say-die mentality.
It also contains other life lessons for everyone, Simoes said.
"Inside the airport (on his arrival) brought memories of 1994, which was incredible, absolutely incredible, but I have everything in a book now.
"I wrote a book. I just finished a meeting with the publisher, and he said it is the first book about football in Jamaica. I was surprised. He said you have books about achievement, competitions, and how you have qualified for the World Cup, but this is deep.
"This is in memory of Captain Horace Burrell, who dared to dream before all of us. He dreamt of being in the World Cup," Simoes said.
The book, 'Champion of the Impossible Dream', will be released first in Jamaica and then in the United States of America and England before it is launched in Brazil.
"The book is not only about football, but having a mentality like Captain Burrell. He never accepted no, and people in Brazil and some people in Jamaica say he is crazy, but no. If you not try, how can you make the impossible possible? Impossible is something you don't try. Once you decide to try, it is possible.
"So the message should be heard. A small country with 1.2 million, who never won a Gold Cup. How can you think about World Cup? That is craziness.
"There was one crazy guy like Captain Burrell. He dared to dream, and he went to Brazil and convinced me. I came here, and we tried to convince everybody and the entire nation to dream together, and the achievement in the National Stadium was amazing.
"So the book is something amazing. It not only talks about football. It talks about being the underdog, being looked at as nothing, a nobody, but you say I know who I am, I know what I can do, and I will do it," he stated.
