Whitmore

Fort Lauderdale, Florida:

Reggae Boyz head coach Theodore Whitmore believes that there were a lot of positives to be had despite the National team going down 2-1 to CONMEBOL contenders Peru, at the Lockhart Stadium here last night.

"I think we kept the ball well and had good spells of possession. It was a tough game and not to take anything away from the Peruvians but I think we played in patches," Whitmore told Star Sports.

Substitute José Carlos Fernandez turned out to be the hero for the South American outfit, when just seconds after being on the pitch, he turned a cheeky flick wide of Jamaican custodian Dwayne Miller and into the back of the net. The Peruvians had taken the lead through a Demar Phillips own goal, before in-form striker Omar Cummings belted from 25 yards to level the encounter.

"We didn't do enough work on cutting out the crosses we allowed far too many, both goals resulted from us allowing crosses to be played into the area. However, I think the first goal was a little unfortunate," Whitmore said.

Phillips must have indeed considered himself unfortunate when he mistimed his jump and headed the ball past Miller in an attempt to clear his lines from the threat of a cross from Fiorentina midfielder Juan Manuel Vargas. With only three minutes gone the attack had been Peru's first, with the Jamaicans having dominated possession early on. The team which had been unfazed by the large showing of Peruvian support and a mild drizzle early on, strung together a series of slick passes to boss the opening minutes.

With the organised Peru defensive unit, however, proving difficult to break down, it was Cummings who hammered the way through with a fierce effort, leaving Peru goalkeeper Salomon Libman with very little to do but retrieve the ball from the back of the net. Although brilliant, Cummings' goal came from the industry of Jason Morrison, who had a solid game in the middle of park, before being injured early in the second half.

However, it was Peru led by FC Schalke's Jefferson Farfan who started off the second period aggressively and slowly took over the game. Only decisive goalkeeping from Miller had kept Farfan off the scoresheet, as he headed just wide after charging in to claim a 64th minute set piece.

Peru, who looked dangerous in possession, with Farfan continuing to cause problems, however, struck the telling blow in the 84th minute, as with almost his first touch, Fernandez side-booted a decisive pass from Vargas wide of Miller and into the left hand corner of the net. The Jamaicans had previously recorded wins over Trinidad and Tobago and Costa Rica.

"In the second half we had to make a few changes, Morrison had to come off with a bad injury so we lost our way a bit. However, we are taking every game in stride and right now we are looking forward to our next game against Trinidad and Tobago." Whitmore said.