ORLANDO, Florida.- Guadeloupe feels proud of their performance in Group C play against Jamaica, and even though the 2-1 defeat was hard to accept, the team stands to grow and come back stronger from these experiences.
The Gwada Boys gave the more experienced Reggae Boyz a real fight, having created several scoring opportunities, but were unable to finish the plays and saw a late error result in a game-winning goal for Jamaica.
“For sure [we’re] proud of what we have in done these games. We knew they were going to be difficult. We have seen it, but tonight we had the possibility of scoring a goal that would have won it,” said Guadeloupe head coach Jocelyn Angloma to Concacaf.com after the game.
“In the end, we have lost because we have made mistakes that they [Jamaica] do not forgive. We had to be ready,” added Angloma.
Going up against teams with a full roster of professional players has not been easy for a Guadeloupe side that is made up of a mix of professional and amateurs. Nevertheless, there is hope that as their team gets more experience, the wins will come.
“You have to always be working to come back and come back even better,” concluded Angloma.
Jamaica boss Theodore Whitmore gave his team a six out of ten as a performance rating because they conceded a goal first, missed several goal opportunities early in the game and allowed Guadeloupe a chance to impose their style of play for moments during the game.
“I wasn’t daunted by what we were doing, it's just I think Jamaica especially in the final third I think we got numerous goal-scoring opportunities which we didn’t put away, and the longer the game went on, then Guadeloupe was still in the game,” said Whitmore to Concacaf.com
Whitmore acknowledged the ability Guadeloupe showed against his team on the pitch and gave credit to the performance of the Gwada Boys.
“We know they have technical players you could see. They demonstrated that. I think they showed that going forward they are going to be a force to reckon with,” said Whitmore.
