Whisper the obvious choice – Hallgrimsson
Published:Sunday | September 10, 2023 | 12:09 AMLivingston Scott - Gleaner Writer
JAMAICA’S FOOTBALL coach, Heimir Hallgrimsson, feels vindicated about starting Dujuan ‘Whisper’ Richards after the 17-year-old’s performance in a 1-0 Concacaf Nations League A win over Honduras on Friday night, going on to call the choice the obvious one.
First-choice centre forward, Michail Antonio, pulled out of the Reggae Boyz squad for this international break, citing personal reasons, while another option, in Cory Burke, had to do the same because of injury.
Yet another option in Shamar Nicholson was difficult to make for the coach, because he arrived late to begin training with the team.
The absences and delay left Hallgrimsson with Romario Williams, who replaced Antonio in the squad, and Richards, with the coach eventually deciding on starting his 17-year-old prodigy.
“Shamar has been an obvious replacement for Antonio in the Gold Cup. But he came so late that he missed all the training sessions. We could only do a 20-minute session last night [Thursday] with him. So it would be reckless to play 90 minutes.
“It would have been unfair to him because he probably would not have played very well. So we decided we would give him some minutes,” he said.
“We wanted a guy upfront who would make runs behind, and Whisper is really good at that.
“He is full of confidence and the will to score goals. So he was the obvious choice.
“We have a really good bench, so we knew we could change. But it was obvious to play Whisper upfront to begin with.”
According to Hallgrimsson, Whisper acquitted himself very well, given the circumstances.
“A 17-year-old starting his first official national team game in front of his own fans? He did good. He was unlucky to not score. He had really good spells in the game where he showed his quality.
“It’s a long time since he played a competitive match, so it will come for him like everyone else,” he said.
The former Kingston College standout came close to scoring the opening goal but his low curling shot from 20 yards hit the upright and rebounded across the face of goal.
Demarai Gray netted the game’s only goal in the 64th minute when he glided past a couple defenders and curled a delightful shot into the top corner.
Jamaica. with three points, sit two clear at the top of the table above Haiti, Cuba, Suriname, and Grenada who drew their opening games, while Honduras bring up the rear, having yet to get off the mark.
Jamaica play Haiti inside the National Stadium on Tuesday.