Heimir Hallgrimsson
For all the talks about his winless streak in eight friendly games, Jamaica's Head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson said he never paid much attention to those numbers as the fact remained that he was yet to lose a game at a major tournament.
In fact, Hallgrimsson, who registered his first win since taking the reins to guide the Reggae Boyz late last year, pointed out that the team's 4-1 drubbing of Caribbean rivals Trinidad and Tobago in their second Concacaf Gold Cup Group A fixture on Wednesday, was a strong indicator that time and greater consistency, could lead to better results going forward.
Prior to this Gold Cup triumph, Hallgrimsson had lost 0-3 to Argentina, 0-1 to Trinidad and Tobago, and 2-1 to Qatar and Jordan respectively, in friendly fixtures. His record also includes, 1-1 and goalless score lines with Cameroon and Trinidad and Tobago, also in friendlies, followed by a 2-2 Nations League stalemate with Mexico and more recently a 1-1 stalemate with United States in their Gold Cup opener.
While for some the victory Demarai Gray (14th and 28th), Leon Bailey (17th) and 17-year-old Dujuan "Whisper" Richards (90+2), who became the youngest scorer in the history of the tournament, was a relief, the Icelandic tactician said the focus was more on building a competitive team.
Andre Rampersad (49th) got the consolation for the twin island republic.
"It didn't affect me at all, I was not counting," Hallgrimsson declared during a post-game press conference at Citypark in St Louis, Missouri.
"I will tell you another fact, I haven't lost a competitive game for Jamaica and that is what matters, the competitive matches. I am pretty sure this team will grow, there are a lot of young players starting to play for us and they will only grow as the tournament gets older. That is the important thing about tournament like these.
"Normally in a FIFA Window when you have players for seven days, eight days, maximum, and you have two matches, there is so little you can do to connect with them at that time. But when you have a tournament like this, you can always add things where you can improve the understanding between individual players. So, it's helping us a lot which is why it's important to be here and that is why it is important to make it to the Copa America next year as well, so we can continue grow as a team," he added.
Hallgrimsson, who was also taken to task about his selection of rising sensation Richards, argued that the late goal scored by the Chelsea-bound prospect, justified the coaching staff's decision.
He reiterated the fact that the former Kingston College talisman, who was making his Gold Cup debut, still have immense scope for improvements which will come in time as Richards learns from his more experienced counterparts.
"Normally I don't like to talk about individual players, but we were criticised for picking the kid and he only needed 10 minutes to score a goal, so that shows why we selected him, and I don't think he knows what he is going to do, the opponents don't know what he is going to do but he is lethal.
"I have to admit when he took the shot, I was wondering why he was shooting from that range, but he scored, so he is kind of like the guy that defy the odds a little bit and all teams need players like him. As I said before he has a lot to learn, but he still knows a lot and can do a lot right now," Hallgrimsson shared.
He also spoke highly of Gray, who celebrated his 27th birthday with a brace in only his second appearance as a Jamaican international.
"Demarai, everybody knew he was a longtime coming, I think we started talking about him coming to Jamaica two years ago so for everyone to see now how good a individual talent he is, taking players on, he is a real quality on the field, and he is fast as well. It will take time for him to really get into the tactics and get to know the players around him, but I think it was a good birthday present he gave to all of us scoring two goals and I think he had a really good game," Hallgrimsson noted.
That said, Hallgrimsson lauded the dominance of his Reggae Boyz unit to not only consistently break down the Soca Warriors 5-4-1 defensive formation, but more importantly, maintain their composure and firm defensive posture for the most parts.
"We have good depth in the squad, not much difference between some players and we have tried these players in these positions before, so it was good to give both Javain [Brown] and Dexter Lembikisa a chance to play and Amari'i was a little bit injured, so we didn't want to risk him so that's why Taxi [Kemar Lawrence] started at left back and did a good job there. But at half time, he felt a little stiffening up, so we moved Dexter to the left and Joel Latibeaudiere played right.
"So there were a lot of changes going on in these positions and then just the rotations of the centre-backs, I think Dishon Bernard did a really good job, so I hope Jamaicans are happy to see that there is a young centre-back coming up, he showed his strength and character in this game and in generally was really good," Hallgrimsson reasoned.
"I don't think Trinidad created a chance except for the goal, I think that was the only chance they created, so that's good and shows the defensive game we played today (Wednesday)," he ended.
Sherdon Cowan is a five-time award-winning journalist with 10 years' experience covering sports.
St. Louis City v Chicago Fire: Carnell warns against complacency amid unbeaten run
Bradley Carnell has warned his St. Louis City side they can't get comfortable despite a four-game unbeaten run.
Carnell's men last lost in March, since winning one and drawing three to leave St. Louis ninth in the Western Conference, just three points behind sixth-placed Austin FC.
As his team prepares to host the Chicago Fire this weekend, Carnell has cautioned his players not to become complacent.
"We can speak so many nice positives, especially with our three clean sheets in four and there are so many good moments," Carnell said.
"But I also don't want to get comfortable with that. I don't want to be used to getting draws. I don't want to hype up getting ties."
Carnell's side will look to extend their unbeaten run against a Fire team winless in four, currently 13th in the East after a poor start.
Chicago head coach Frank Klopas hopes his team don't lose faith, telling reporters: "Our focus is to continue to stay positive with the group.
"It's a process of evaluating and looking at how we can improve as a team, and then making sure once we analyse the games we look at certain things we did well and our mistakes to look to improve.
"It's a long season. I feel the team has been playing well, but we have to find a way to get points."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
St. Louis City – Joao Klauss
No St. Louis player has managed more MLS goal contributions than Klauss so far this term, scoring three and adding an assist. He will likely lead the line on Saturday and will hope to score the goals that start turning draws into wins.
Chicago Fire – Brian Gutierrez
Despite his team's poor collective start, 20-year-old midfielder Gutierrez has performed well and leads his team with three MLS goals so far this season, while also registering an assist. He will look to build on that and try to turn his side's fortunes around, starting this Saturday.
MATCH PREDICTION – ST. LOUIS WIN
St. Louis have kept clean sheets in three of their last four matches, including in the scoreless draw with the Houston Dynamo last time out. St. Louis had managed just two clean sheets in their previous 23 matches in all competitions dating back to last July.
The Fire, meanwhile, have failed to score in four straight matches. This is the fifth time Chicago have gone four or more consecutive league matches without scoring since the start of the 2021 season.
Six of St. Louis City's last eight matches have ended in draws, but home advantage should be enough to see off a struggling Chicago team on Saturday.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
St. Louis: 55.5%
Chicago: 19%
Draw: 25.5%
LA Galaxy v Real Salt Lake: Vanney encouraged ahead of top-of-the-table tussle
Greg Vanney believes the LA Galaxy are in a good spot both physically and mentally ahead of Saturday's clash with fellow Western Conference high-fliers Real Salt Lake.
The Galaxy sit third in the West through 11 matches of the season, though they have failed to win back-to-back road games against Austin FC (0-2) and the Seattle Sounders (0-0).
They are, however, unbeaten in all four of their home league games this term (two wins, two draws), and Vanney is looking forward to returning to Dignity Health Sports Park next time out.
"Physically, first and foremost, we're in a pretty good spot. We have a few guys coming back from issues that were pretty minor," Vanney said.
"It's good. We've been able to stay in that space for a while and now we're going into a busy part of the schedule we can make some choices about how we want to attack the week.
"Where are we mentally? We're good. It's nice to be home, it's a challenge to play a lot of games on the road early doors.
"We like the spot we're in and we want to keep building, but we've got to get through this tough stretch of games."
Real Salt Lake are top of the Western standings with 21 points, only losing twice in 11 league games this year.
However, they were dumped out of the U.S. Open Cup by New Mexico United on Wednesday, Pablo Mastroeni shuffling his pack for a 4-2 road loss.
"We completely tuned out," Mastroeni said after watching his team go 2-0 down within 20 minutes.
"The emotion is like, 'poor me,' and when you operate from that space, you can never think reasonably."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
LA Galaxy – Gabriel Pec
The Galaxy (12 shots) and Seattle (19) combined for 31 shots in their scoreless draw last time out.
Pec – who has two goals in 10 league appearances since joining the Galaxy in the offseason – recorded six of his team's attempts, but only hit the target once. He will be targeting an improvement here.
Real Salt Lake – Cristian Arango
Arango is the first Real Salt Lake player to contribute to at least one goal in five straight regular-season away matches, recording four goals and five assists during his streak.
He is just the second player since the start of last season to record a goal contribution in five straight MLS away matches, after the Columbus Crew's Cucho Hernandez.
MATCH PREDICTION – LA GALAXY WIN
The Galaxy have lost only one of their last 13 home matches against Real Salt Lake (nine wins, three draws) including going unbeaten through the last seven in a row.
The last two meetings in Carson have both ended level, though, after the Galaxy won nine of the previous 11 (one draw, one defeat).
However, Vanney's team have only lost one of their last 14 regular-season home matches dating back to last June, winning six and drawing six while averaging 2.2 goals per game throughout this run.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
LA Galaxy – 44.8%
Real Salt Lake – 27.8%
Draw – 27.4%
Leverkusen reach Europa League final and stretch unbeaten run with late show
Bayer Leverkusen reached the Europa League final and stretched their remarkable unbeaten run to 49 games on Thursday, Josip Stanisic scoring seven minutes into stoppage time in a dramatic 2-2 draw with Roma.
Having won last week's first leg 2-0 in Italy, Leverkusen were strong favourites to advance to this month's final in Dublin, though two Leandro Paredes penalties left them facing up to the prospect of extra time.
Paredes halved Leverkusen's aggregate lead on the stroke of half-time after Jonathan Tah fouled Sardar Azmoun, then repeated the trick following a bizarre handball from Adam Hlozek shortly after the hour mark.
However, Roma's hearts were broken as goalkeeper Mile Svilar – who was otherwise outstanding – failed to claim a routine corner and it bounced in off the unfortunate Gianluca Mancini with eight minutes of the 90 remaining.
Rather than sitting back at 2-1 up in the tie, Leverkusen chased a leveller in order to preserve their unbeaten record across all competitions this season.
It was yet another last-gasp effort that kept that record intact, with Stanisic firing into the bottom-left corner after being played through by Granit Xhaka.
Xabi Alonso's team are now unbeaten in 49 games in all competitions, breaking Benfica's previous European top-tier record of 48 matches, set between 1963 and 1965.
Leverkusen will face another Italian side in the showpiece game, after Atalanta crushed Marseille 3-0 in Bergamo to seal a 4-1 aggregate win in the other semi-final.
In-form striker Gianluca Scamacca had already rattled the crossbar when La Dea took the lead, with Ademola Lookman's strike deflecting in off the unfortunate Samuel Gigot.
Lookman then turned provider as Atalanta stretched their advantage seven minutes after the break, teeing up Matteo Ruggeri for a rasping finish into the top-right corner.
Gian Piero Gasperini's men were able to add some gloss to the scoreline at the death, with El Bilal Toure's pinpoint finish giving Pau Lopez no chance to round off a dominant win.
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