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‘I WANT TO STAY’ - HALL has hopes of leading Boyz rebuild after World Cup elimination
February 03, 2022
THE 2022 World Cup dream may be dead for the Reggae Boyz but interim head coach Paul Hall says he is hoping for the chance to lead the team's rebuild as it sets its sights on the 2026 tournament.
Jamaica were beaten by Costa Rica 1-0 in their World Cup qualifying match last night at the National Stadium, closing the door on any faint hopes they had of qualifying for Qatar.
Joel Campbell scored the game-winner in the 62nd minute, as the Boyz slumped to their sixth defeat of the campaign and their third at home.
It has been a torrid first four games for Hall, who replaced Theodore Whitmore in December, the coach yet to win a game in charge, including their January 20 friendly against Peru.
However, Hall says that he wants to continue at the helm to lead the rebuild efforts for the next cycle
"I do (want to stay). I was brought here to try and see if we could qualify the team but also for the long term to affect the players and try to get them up to a certain level and standard of which we have many good young players.
"So I hope I'm part of it," Hall said
"It's a painful process to lose three games on the spin in the World Cup qualifiers. But we have got to look forward and we have got to press on."
Despite dominating the majority of the game, the end product was lacking with Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas foiling attempts from Michail Antonio and Bobby Reid from close range.
Jamaica had 15 shots with only four on target and had the majority of possession for the game, a rarity in the campaign.
But the team was made to pay for the lack of that end product. After goalkeeper Andre Blake made a 61st-minute penalty save from Celso Borges, Campbell delivered a sucker punch to the Jamaicans a minute later, stopping their momentum.
It was a result that Hall said needed introspection from the team and himself on where to go from here.
"I told the players we have to question ourselves whether we are good enough as a team, as a unit because I think we let ourselves down. And I told them that. It's important to speak about the positives in the game but it is hard to be positive after a result like that," Hall said.
"We came up short and we have a lot of improvement to make."
Jamaica will finish their campaign in March with matches against Honduras, Canada and El Salvador.
Final Stats JAM Costa Rica
Shots 15 7
Shots on Goal 4 5
Possession 63% 37%
Pass Accuracy 88% 81%
Fouls 15 16
Yellow Card 1 0
Red Card 0 0
