WORLD CUP 1998: Football's biggest stage for Jamaica
It took all of 32 years for Jamaica's World Cup dreams to become a reality. And when it came it was fitting that a Brazilian coach, Rene Simoes, was in charge.
Fitting because the first steps in Jamaica's World Cup journey were taken three years after independence and they came under Brazil's Jorge Penna and way back in 1965.
In a three-team final round Jamaica was beaten badly by Mexico and Costa Rica in away matches after creditable performances at home. Some of the pioneers at that time were Frank Brown, Art and Asher Welsh, Oscar Black, Henry Largie and Winthorpe 'Jackie' Bell.
From a national standpoint, the late 1960s to 1990 was a wretched period for local football. In the qualification for Mexico in 1970, Jamaica fell at the first hurdle. Bad behaviour in Bermuda in the mid-1970s saw the suspension of several players and a decision was taken not to enter the World Cup qualification. When they did return they were eliminated by Cuba in the year prior to the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.
This was followed by two quiet periods - 1982 and 1986 - when Jamaica failed to enter. Back under Geoffrey Maxwell for the 1990 campaign Jamaica's team was eliminated by the United States at the second round. The story was the same in 1994 but at the administrative level things were starting to change. Captain Horace Burrell took over the reins of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) and hired Brazilian Simoes. His mission was to get Jamaica to France in 1998.
The government and private sector were brought fully on board, the National Stadium, dubbed The Office, became a fortress and support for local football reached unprecedented levels. In 1996 Jamaica won FIFA's Best Mover Award after a big improvement in the country's football rankings.
Simoes kept a crack local squad made up of the best from Kingston and Montego Bay. The stars were goalkeeper and captain Warren Barrett, midfielder Theodore Whitmore, defenders Durrant Brown and Ricardo Gardner, forwards Andy Williams, Walter Boyd and Onandi Lowe. There were excellent backups in Peter Cargill, Paul Young and Ian Goodison.
Then with Jamaica struggling in the early days of qualification, Simoes and Burrell moved to bolster the squad by bringing in a British brigade. In came Robbie Earle, Deon Burton, Paul Hall, Fitzroy Simpson, Frank Sinclair and Marcus Gayle.
A team which was struggling midway suddenly came to life and reeled off enough wins to gain qualification for France. Jamaica became the first English-speaking Caribbean country to reach football's biggest stage.
While the English players brought a level of professionalism to the squad, the role of the local-based players was key and 14 of them made the final cut for France.
Qualification for France helped to broaden the horizon for local premier league players. The first big break came shortly after the World Cup. Defender Ricardo Gardner of Harbour View was snapped by English first division team Bolton Wanderers for one million pounds.
Following Gardner's breakthrough a number of other players went on to play in the English Leagues. Boyd went to Swansea, Whitmore to Hull and Ricardo Fuller to several clubs in Scotland and England.
Regionally Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago continue to rule the Caribbean. The Trinidadians have won the Caribbean title eight times to Jamaica's six.
In the broader CONCACAF region no Caribbean country has lifted the Gold Cup, the symbol of supremacy in the confederation. Two years ago Jamaica reached the final for the first time and were beaten by Mexico. This follows a third place finish in 1993.
Highlights
*1965: Under Brazilian Jorge Penna, Jamaica enter World Cup qualification for first time.
* 1993: Jamaica place third in CONCACAF Gold Cup
* 1994: Rene Simoes hired
* 1996: Jamaica voted 'Best Mover' by FIFA
* 1997: Jamaica qualify for World Cup in France
* Robbie Earle scores first ever World Cup Finals goal for Jamaica against Croatia
* 1998: Jamaica lose first two matches but defeated Japan 2-1 for first World Cup finals win.
* 2015: Jamaica reach Gold Cup final for first time. Beaten 3-1 by Mexico.
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