Looking back at '98
Tym Glaser , Associate Editor - Sport

 

Jamaica's Ian Goodison (left), Theodore Whitmore (centre) and Ricardo Gardner celebrate one of Whitmore's goal against Japan at the 1998 World Cup in France. (FILE)

WAS IT really only four years ago that the Reggae Boyz created history when they entered the Felix Bollaert Stadium in Lens to face Croatia and become the first English-speaking Caribbean team to appear at the World Cup finals?

In some ways the France experience seems just like yesterday. I can still taste and SMELL that disgusting pork sausage I was coerced into eating in Chaumont by a couple of French journalists from Associated Press and Le Equipe.

I remember an impassioned (off-the-record) speech made by Portia Simpson Miller to the team at its base, Chateau Arc en Barrios, invoking the names of Nanny, Bogle, Gordon and Sharpe in an attempt to inspire a team split down Jamaica-England lines but united against management in a pay dispute.

I remember the friendliness and approachability of Fitzroy Simpson, Paul Hall, Robbie Earle, Darryl Powell, Frank Sinclair, Peter Cargill, Walter Boyd, non-playing Linval Dixon and coach on the outer Carl Brown. The taciturness, or maybe shyness, of Ian lookingbackat'98Goodison, Ricardo Gardner and Onandi Lowe. The arrogance of Cup qualifying hero Deon Burton and the many faces of coach Rene Simoes.

The three games, too, are imbedded in memory:

Lens - Earle's headed goal from a superb Gardner cross which gave Jamaica a shock equaliser against a team which would go on to the Cup semis. Burton's missed header from near point-blank range which would have tied the scores again. Davor Suker's dagger-in-the-heart shot which made it 3-1.

Parc des Princes, Paris - Disaster against Argentina. Powell's sending off in the first half for two fouls on livewire midfielder Ariel Ortega. Free-range striker Gabriel Battistuta carving up the Jamaica (lack of) defence on his way to a hat-trick. Ortega's brace. Goodison and Sinclair arguing on the pitch. Simoes' alarmingly poor tactics and unrepentant attitude after the 5-0 rout. All hope of advancing gone.

Lyon - The battle to avoid the wooden spoon against fellow Cup debutants Japan. A stadium full of Japanese blue. Two sublime goals from Whitmore. Some superb keeping from Aaron Lawrence. All over for Jamaica.

However, when collating these experiences it's hard to work out if World Cup 1998 was a beginning or an end for the Reggae Boyz. The team did not reach Asia 2002, the programme appears to have stalled, coaches have come and gone and only one local player, Gardner, caught the eye of a foreign club and signed a lucrative contract. Others (Goodison, Whitmore, Boyd and Lowe) played abroad but at near bargain-basement prices.

France '98 was not a catalyst to greater things but it wasn't quite a full stop either. Simoes' squad set a benchmark, a goal that other Reggae Boyz can chase. In the right circumstances anything can be done and "likkle but tallawah" teams can go to the show and dance with the big boys of world football.

Maybe some time in the not too distant future another 23 sons of Jamaica will bond together under the guidance and inspiration of a mentor/coach and provide us with more unforgettable and historic flashes - but definitely no more pork sausage for me.