FRANCE 98 – Team Detail

Jamaica’s arrival in the finals is down mainly to two men: Horace Burrell, the president of the federation who took over the role in 1994 and the team’s Brazilian coach Rene Simoes who arrived several moths after Burrell took charge.

Convinced that Jamaica had the talent to reach the finals Burrell moved heaven and eath to create a programme that would allow him to see his dream come true.

In 1994 Jamaica was 96th in the FIFA rankings. By November 1997 they had climbed to 39th. In qualifying for France ’98, Jamaica finished third in the CONCACAF group, behind Mexico and the United States but coming ahead of Costa Rica and Canada. Comfortable at home, Jamaica had problems playing away – underlined by their crushing 6-0 defeat in Mexico during the qualifiers.

Simoes has attempted to wean his players away from the British style and instead play with Brazilian flair. After 140 matches in three years he is almost there.