Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz U-20 captain Adrian Reid Jr. says the team will have to learn quickly from its mistakes ahead of its second game in the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship against Costa Rica on Monday.
The Jamaican youngsters opened their campaign with a disappointing 0-9 defeat to the United States at the Miguel Aleman Valdez Stadium in Celaya, Mexico, on Friday.
“Obviously we didn’t get the result we wanted. It was a disappointing result. We didn’t show enough quality and character,” Reid said in an interview with JFF Live on Sunday.
The Cavalier SC defender, who was recently called up to the Senior Reggae Boyz squad for the first time for a World Cup qualifier against the Dominican Republic last month, says his team will have to put Friday’s performance behind them ahead of Monday’s game.
“We have to put that game behind us and learn from our mistakes. We have to start from scratch and train again, see where we went wrong and try to correct our mistakes,” he said.
Despite the huge loss, Reid Jr. seemed encouraged by the mood in camp and noted how everyone was taking responsibility.
“After the match, you could see that everyone was taking responsibility and owning up to everything they had done. Everyone came together to try to find solutions, so the atmosphere in the camp was good,” he said.
Jamaica competes alongside the United States, Cuba and Costa Rica in Group A of the 12-team tournament.
Cuba and Costa Rica drew 1-1 in the same place on Friday to place second and third in the group.
The top two teams from the three groups will advance to the quarter-finals along with the two best third-place teams.
The winners of those quarter-finals will qualify for the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile.
