John Wall
While optimistic about Jamaica’s chances of making a deep run in the upcoming Concacaf Men’s Under-20 Championships, Head Coach John is cognizant that his team’s performance will be dependent on their build up to the tournament.
It is for that reason why Wall welcomed an ongoing four-day camp with local-based players, which will be followed by three friendly encounters in Trinidad and Tobago ahead of the big show in St Kitts and Nevis next month.
With the qualifiers scheduled for February 23 to March 2, Wall and his team engage Trinidad and Tobago’s Under-20 team in two games, with the other set to be against a senior team from the twin island republic.
Those games are scheduled for January 22 to February 2, and will be followed by a pre-tournament camp locally from February 14-21.
"I think it is another assessment round with the domestic players ever since March during those two sessions a month, then obviously, we stopped September, October, November and then commenced again December with a small scrimmage [practice] against Portmore United. I really appreciate that they were able to play us, and it gave me a lot of insights too," Wall said.
"So, I am very excited about this camp, which has now started. I am very excited about the talent that is in store, and I am looking forward to the next four days of action. It is a great opportunity for the players to impress ahead of the qualifiers and an opportunity to showcase their worth in a very busy calendar going into 2024," he added.
Wall explained that the camp in Trinidad and Tobago will also be used to engage overseas-based players and simulate a tournament format with games being played every other day.
“These games will basically put the staff to work as well because we will basically be playing every other day, so the recovery will be important which is why we want to use these games to mimic that scenario,” he explained.
“We also want to give a full scope to know who they (overseas-based players) are, see how they fit into the group and how they can aid us and ultimately see if they can qualify for the U-20s final squad. We would like to have a full calendar where everyone (local and overseas) is synchronized, but the biggest thing now is that Jamaica has started to export players in a bigger volume than it is right now, that’s one of my concerns,” he noted.
With Jamaica drawn in Group F alongside Bermuda, Martinique and Grenada, Wall pointed out that they have already down their homework on the opponents.
But, in the same breath, he argued that it would mean very little if they aren’t adequately prepared and ready to challenge for the coveted top spot, as only the group winners will progress to the next phase of the tournament to join the top teams –United States, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic –ranked in that order.
“Martinique had four of their U-20 players in that game against Lille which they lost 12-0; Grenada has five English-based players that is going to be a part of their squad and we basically have them covered, and Bermuda hasn’t started preparations as yet, so they are more of a dark horse. But for me it’s about controlling the controllable at this point in terms of what we can do,” Wall declared.
“My hope and aspiration (for the tournament) lie in the work that we put down and not the talent that we assess, so we have to do the work consistently because ultimately what I care about is making sure that Jamaica prevails,” he ended.
Sherdon Cowan is a five-time award-winning journalist with 10 years' experience covering sports.
Bristol City Women 0-4 Man City Women: Hosts relegated as Fowler double inspires WSL leaders
Mary Fowler scored twice to set WSL leaders Manchester City on their way to a 4-0 rout of Bristol City, who suffered relegation as a result, on Sunday.
With Arsenal having drawn with Everton earlier in the day, Man City knew a victory would be enough to take the title race down to two teams.
That victory duly arrived in emphatic fashion, with all four of Man City's goals arriving in the second half.
Fowler's fantastic strike opened the scoring in the 62nd minute, with the Australia international doubling her tally soon after, paving the way for an Amy Rodgers own goal and Alex Greenwood's late header to seal a huge victory.
Arsenal are now out of the title race, with Chelsea - who have two games in hand on Gareth Taylor's team - the only side capable of catching Man City.
The Robins, meanwhile, will be playing in the second tier again next term.
Data Debrief: Bristol heading down with a whimper
Bristol City have failed to score in their last five games in the WSL, a run of 544 minutes without a goal.
They mustered just 0.09 expected goals (xG) to Man City's 3.4, with the visitors having now kept a clean sheet in nine of their 20 league games this season.
De Rossi demands more from 'tired' Roma ahead of crunch run
Daniele De Rossi acknowledged his Roma team may be tired, but he insisted they must not allow themselves to be embarrassed.
Roma fought back to draw 2-2 with last season's Serie A champions Napoli in a pulsating fixture on Sunday.
Tammy Abraham's late header secured a point for De Rossi's team, who took the lead through Paulo Dybala's penalty before going behind to goals from Matias Olivera and Victor Osimhen.
With Serie A set to have five teams in the Champions League next season, Roma occupy fifth spot with four matches remaining, but sixth-placed Atalanta are just two points behind with a game in hand.
There is also the small matter of a Europa League semi-final against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen on the cards over the coming weeks, and De Rossi set the stall out.
"We drew, it is not a result to throw away, but it is not the result or the performance that we wanted," Roma coach Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sports Italia.
"At times you can steal the ball off Napoli, but we then gave it back again too many times. Napoli had a lot of chances in the first half, we did better in the second, but we have to do better.
"Look, we are tired, but we cannot start thinking that we’re tired and that means we can be embarrassed in the final few weeks of the season."
Roma host Leverkusen on Thursday before taking on Juventus on May 5, with a crunch clash against Atalanta – who are also into the Europa League semi-finals – set to follow after the away leg against Xabi Alonso's team.
Key to a successful end to the campaign for Roma will be keeping Dybala fit. The Argentine has been involved in the joint-most goals (12) in Serie A since the turn of the year, scoring nine and setting up three, level with Juve's Dusan Vlahovic.
PSG's latest Ligue 1 title arrives as Monaco lose to Lyon
Paris Saint-Germain have been crowned as Ligue 1 champions after Lyon overcame Monaco 3-2 on Sunday.
A 4-1 midweek win over Lorient ensured that one more victory would be enough for Luis Enrique's team to get over the line, but PSG failed to get the job done themselves when they faced relegation-threatened Le Havre on Saturday.
That game was the 700th match of the QSI era at PSG, and the club's 1,900th in France's top flight.
However, PSG's wait to win their third straight title did not last long, as less than 24 hours later, Lyon – who will face the Parisians in the final of the Coupe de France at the end of May – came out on top in a topsy turvy encounter with second-placed Monaco.
Substitute Malick Fofana was the matchwinner for Lyon, and ultimately the player who handed the title to PSG.
Wissam Ben Yedder had put Monaco ahead in the opening minute, but quickfire goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Said Benrahma turned the match on its head before half-time.
Ben Yedder netted his second to restore parity on the hour mark, and thought he had sealed his hat-trick when he volleyed in from a free-kick, only to have strayed offside.
With only a win good enough for Monaco to stay in the fight, the visitors were then caught out in the 84th minute, with Fofana racing onto Lacazette's throughball and finishing calmly.
After a dismal start to the season, relegation looked a real possibility for Lyon, but they are now, with three games remaining, still in with a shout of qualifying for Europe.
PSG on the other hand now have 12 Ligue 1 titles to their name, with 10 of those coming under QSI's ownership. Aside from the COVID-impacted 2019-20 season, five of their last six league titles have been secured before the start of May.
It also means Luis Enrique remains in the running for a treble in his first season at the club, with PSG taking on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-finals next week.
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