While denying he and Carl Brown are part of Bora Milutinovic's
coaching staff to help prepare the national team qualify for World Cup
2010 in South Africa, former technical director Wendell Downswell would
nonetheless welcome the offer.
The Reno FC coach believes the national football programme is in good
hands and he could contribute to the Reggae Boyz campaign.
"I can't really say that I will be a part of the staff. There is
nothing factual about that (rumours)... You know you will have rumours
going around and people will say a lot of things," said the veteran
coach.
"Still, I would like to be a part of the staff because I have worked
in the national programme over the years and I feel I can make a contribution,"
he conceded.
"Especially in this 2010 campaign, I would very much like us to qualify
based on the quality of players we possess...," Downswell said.
Both Downswell and Brown could form part of Bora's support staff, as the
new TD met with a number of the local coaches on December 15. Milutinovic,
through a process to be decided by himself and the federation, will select
his local support staff.
Downswell said the experienced Milutinovic has come at the right time
and he believes the team has a great chance of qualifying for their second
World Cup Finals.
"This is a step in the right direction. We could not ask for a better
person just now and with such an illustrious track record. He (Milutinovic)
is also one who is highly motivated to qualify a sixth team, which would
put him at an immortal status as it would be a very unique achievement,"
Downswell argued.
Milutinovic is currently the only man to have coached five different teams
at the World Cup Finals - Mexico (1986), Costa Rica (1990), the United
States (1994), Nigeria (1998) and China (2002).
"That, along with his experience and knowledge of the game, will
be an ideal recipe. Plus with the quality of the players we have and the
fact that he came this early so that he can assess and make the necessary
adjustment as it relates to the development of the squad itself, is good,"
Downswell explained.
Downswell believes his years of experience at the national level, especailly
with the youth players, could be crucial if he were again drafted into
the national programme.
"...I've been there and I understand the whole psyche of the Jamaican
people; also I've been working with them over the years, especially some
of these youngsters whom I've known from... a tender age.
"Most of them started out at Under-20 and move up to the senior squad,
so with that sort of experience that I've gained at the international
level, I believe I'm in a position to make a healthy contribution as it
relates to qualifying, working alongside coach Bora," he said.
According to Downswell, Jamaica has been starved of high-quality international
matches since the 1998 campaign and he is calling on the local governing
body to arrange for the Reggae Boyz to play high-profile teams this time
around.
"Nothing will develop the players like playing (friendly) internationals...
you can truly assess them under pressure... and have a clear idea of the
team and where they are, going into a major tournament...," he said.
Although there will be the likes of Mexico, the USA and Costa Rica as
major obstacles, Downswell is confident the new TD has the "know-how"
to get the team to South Africa.
"He knows what it's like; he knows what the requirements are in terms
of qualifying different units. It will be a challenging one, but one that
is quite attainable based on the factors that I have mentioned,"
he said.
BY LIVINGSTON SCOTT. ,
December 31, 2006.
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