Let’s jam Jamaica today at stadium

THE EDITOR: As we move towards our 55th anniversary of independence on August 31, today’s football friendly match against Jamaica is a test that should give coach Dennis “Tallest” Lawrence a signpost of where our national football is on the road to recovery and Caribbean supremacy.

Our recent 2-2 stumble against Grenada at the Kirani James Stadium in that country must be erased. That was insulting.

To me, the match, which will be played at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain, the home of international football, is about more than bragging rights.

It is about a deep-seated rivalry between TT — a football powerhouse which was knocked off its throne since 1992 when Jamaica, posing as the Reggae Boyz, raced to the World Cup finals in France — and the team from the “Land of Wood and Water.”

Since then, Jamaica has not looked back in world football. Our beautiful game declined until 2006, when Leo “The Lion” Beenhakker took us to the World Cup finals in Germany. Since then it has been an uphill grind.

Over the years, Jamaica has been posing a threat to our football sanity. Now we have the chance to jam Jamaica in Port of Spain.

Jamaica coach Theodore Whitmore will be leading his battle-ready troops into action, so I am counting on our footballers to give fans an independence gift of a bagful of goals — ahead of the Honduras and Panama World Cup qualifiers.

I am also counting on the referee to give us a good game, as friendlies between TT and Jamaica have been far from friendly.

Gentlemen, attack with full force.

KEITH ANDERSON

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