LONDON, England - Head coach John Barnes says he's pleased with the way the Reggae Boyz applied themselves in a 0-0 draw in their friendly international against Nigeria on Wednesday at the home ground of Millwall FC.
BARNES... the players showed commitment, heart and spirit
Barnes, in his third month at the helm of the senior team, said the core values he demanded from the players at the outset were on display in what many termed a "highly entertaining" game of football in frigid London weather.
"Overall the players showed commitment, heart and spirit and... I was very pleased with the attitude," said Barnes in a post-match press conference after the midweek humdinger.
Barnes, a former Liverpool and England favourite, conceded that the Jamaicans were second best in the first half, but applauded their dominance in the second, even as they failed to press home and win the game before some 3,000-5,000 spectators.
"In the first half we didn't create that many chances, but in the second half we controlled and moved the ball better. I'm disappointed that we didn't win the match as we had three or four clear-cut chances," he said, referring in part to Luton Shelton's two breakaways against Nigerian goalkeeper Ejide Austine.
Barnes hailed the Nigerian custodian. "The goalkeeper did his job well in one-on-one situations," he said.
Jamaica's second-string 'keeper Shawn Sawyers - promoted after a finger injury to Donovan Ricketts - was not to be outdone in that game, denying Odemwingie Osaze and Uche Ikechukwu from close range to keep his team in the game.
After both teams had a man sent off - Jermaine Johnson of Jamaica and Taiye Taiwo of Nigeria - the downsizing appeared to favour Jamaica as they had to adjust from three central defenders playing with a sweeper to a flat back four.
"It would have been a more worthwhile exercise as you would want to play with 11 men, what it did is to force us to change our shape from a back three to a flat back four, so for them (Jamaica) to be forced into this provided me to see how far they have come. It helped us to play better, not with 10 men, but with a different shape," said Barnes, who emigrated to England as a teenager.
Though it's not his style to single out players after a game, Barnes lauded Rudolph Austin of SK Brann of Norway and Jason Morrison of Hungary's Frencvaros.
Meanwhile, Nigeria coach Shauaibu Amodu defended his strategy for the game after needling from the Nigerian media.
". As much as you understand football, I didn't warm more players because I don't think they could go into the game and keep up the rhythm and that's why I didn't make more changes, and of course, we were already playing well," he said.
LONDON, England - Head coach John Barnes says he's pleased with the way the Reggae Boyz applied themselves in a 0-0 draw in their friendly international against Nigeria on Wednesday at the home ground of Millwall FC.
Barnes, in his third month at the helm of the senior team, said the core values he demanded from the players at the outset were on display in what many termed a "highly entertaining" game of football in frigid London weather.
"Overall the players showed commitment, heart and spirit and... I was very pleased with the attitude," said Barnes in a post-match press conference after the midweek humdinger.
Barnes, a former Liverpool and England favourite, conceded that the Jamaicans were second best in the first half, but applauded their dominance in the second, even as they failed to press home and win the game before some 3,000-5,000 spectators.
"In the first half we didn't create that many chances, but in the second half we controlled and moved the ball better. I'm disappointed that we didn't win the match as we had three or four clear-cut chances," he said, referring in part to Luton Shelton's two breakaways against Nigerian goalkeeper Ejide Austine.
Barnes hailed the Nigerian custodian. "The goalkeeper did his job well in one-on-one situations," he said.
Jamaica's second-string 'keeper Shawn Sawyers - promoted after a finger injury to Donovan Ricketts - was not to be outdone in that game, denying Odemwingie Osaze and Uche Ikechukwu from close range to keep his team in the game.
After both teams had a man sent off - Jermaine Johnson of Jamaica and Taiye Taiwo of Nigeria - the downsizing appeared to favour Jamaica as they had to adjust from three central defenders playing with a sweeper to a flat back four.
"It would have been a more worthwhile exercise as you would want to play with 11 men, what it did is to force us to change our shape from a back three to a flat back four, so for them (Jamaica) to be forced into this provided me to see how far they have come. It helped us to play better, not with 10 men, but with a different shape," said Barnes, who emigrated to England as a teenager.
Though it's not his style to single out players after a game, Barnes lauded Rudolph Austin of SK Brann of Norway and Jason Morrison of Hungary's Frencvaros.
Meanwhile, Nigeria coach Shauaibu Amodu defended his strategy for the game after needling from the Nigerian media.
". As much as you understand football, I didn't warm more players because I don't think they could go into the game and keep up the rhythm and that's why I didn't make more changes, and of course, we were already playing well," he said.