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Hallgrimsson looks to World Cup campaign
July 14, 2023
Jamaica coach Heimir Hallgrimsson will look at the positives to try and improve the Reggae Boyz for the World Cup qualifying rounds after they lost 3-0 to Mexico in the semi-finals of the Concacaf Gold Cup on Wednesday.
According to the Icelandic coach, the defeat was difficult for him, and he pointed to their collective play as one area to address before their World Cup campaign begins.
"It is a hard defeat to take, but we will try to look at the positives and see what we can use to work on in the future.
"We didn't move the ball well in the first half, and collectively our defending was not as quick and aggressive, but the second half, we changed it and was more aggressive, and I thought we matched them at least," Hallgrimsson said.
He said that although they had high hopes of winning the country's first Gold Cup, he maintains that the goal is to get it right for World Cup qualification.
"It is the beginning of a successful journey for Jamaica until 2026. We wanted to win this competition, but we are thinking long-term, not short-term. It is still a work in progress.
"Some of these guys are playing for Jamaica for the first time. We have improved as a team, and the future of the Jamaica national team is bright as long as we continue to do things correctly," he said.
He believes that although they have made progress and have immense quality in attack, there is work to be done with the front players.
"This is an exciting time when you look at it, but it needs to be collective. They (front players) need to do other things, not just be exciting when we go forward, Hallgrimsson said."
