KINGSTON, Jamaica – Head coach Paul Hall has praised the resilience of Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz and their improved style of play, after the Caribbean powerhouses ended the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers with their second win of the campaign.
Reggae Boyz interim head coach, Paul Hall.Down 0-1 to Honduras just after the quarter-hour mark at the National Stadium on Wednesday night, the hosts hit back through second half goals from England-based professionals Leon Bailey and Ravel Morrison, to take a 2-1 win.
“We were desperate to get [the win] against El Salvador here last [Thursday] and we should’ve got it and I was thinking the way we finished the first half, it was going to happen again but we managed to get the result,” Hall told media here.
“I think the positives are this is just a resilient group of players. We’ve had a lot of people (players) stay home, a lot of people not wanting to come for whatever reason but the ones that are here are showing commitment and that’s the kind of people that we want here.
“While I’m custodian of Jamaica football I’m going to look after it in that way because … I have to make sure I look after it properly.”
The 49-year-old Hall was named interim head coach last December when Theodore Whitmore was axed with Jamaica struggling after a single win, three defeats and four draws.
Under Hall, a former Jamaica international, Jamaica lost 2-1 to Mexico and 3-2 to Panama after taking the lead in both games, before also losing to 1-0 Costa Rica.
In the final three qualifiers over the last week, Jamaica drew 1-1 with El Salvador, lost 4-0 to Canada before impressively turning over Honduras.
“I’m happy with the way we’re approaching games of football. They’ve managed to have a style and an identity about what we’re doing.
“I think we panicked a little bit [against Honduras] because we were a goal up and we said we’d sit [back] but I’m glad we did that because they didn’t score from open play and they didn’t score from a far-post header so we’ve addressed that.
“Going forward, we just have to try and improve things and try and improve this team and like I said, this is about people who want to be here, this is about people who want to come and play for Jamaica.”
Hall, a development coach at English Championship club Queen’s Park Rangers, said it was important players were satisfied with the style of football.
“I want to make sure the players enjoy playing and that they enjoy playing and play nice football and they’re calm in possession,” Hall explained.
“We’ve passed the ball. If you look over the last few months, we’ve passed the ball more times than we’ve passed it at any other time before, so we’re starting to control the ball against these Central American teams who usually control the passes against us.”
Jamaica finished the final round of qualifiers in sixth place to miss out on qualification for the World Cup in Qatar scheduled for November.
