A HAPPY New Year to sports fans everywhere. Here's to new beginnings, but cheers also to old loves. The ones that made your heart skip a beat whenever you were close and brought sighs of contentment on moonlit walks.
However, if any of you have ever run into a long lost ex, though the euphoria may last for quite a few days - even months, it's just never quite as good as you remember, is it?
In fact, in many an instance, it doesn't take you long to remember why you split with them in the first place.
With the time already rapidly ticking down on the Reggae Boyz's bid for a culturally significant appearance at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, let's hope for all our sakes that Jamaican football's second fling with our ex, Brazilian René Simoes, doesn't fall into the above-mentioned category.
A year has already elapsed, one which many consider wasted, and it was, so to speak, based on the national team's inactivity. The man dubbed the 'Magician' must hit the ground running and there will be little time to reinvent the wheel. A key point is, of course, that with the qualifiers kicking off in June, any assessment of local talent, while necessary, has already, to a large extent, been done over the past year by his predecessor, Velibor Milutinovic, and must now be a speedy one.
Able to gel
Even if the Professor had not been following the region's football so far, he would know by now that CONCACAF rivals have had their teams playing together for some time and quickly Jamaica's squad must not only be assembled but be able gel if the World Cup campaign is expected to be a serious one.
The noble assertion that playing abroad will not guarantee you a spot in this squad, a point Simoes made in his most recent letter to the public, isn't going to be quite the case.
Let's not fool ourselves, René, the simple fact of the matter is that Jamaica's strongest squad for this campaign will certainly have to comprise players plying their trade abroad.
However, unlike the pre-1998 scenario which saw an overseas-based player defined as someone never having set foot on Jamaican soil, many of this crop of players have taken part in the local leagues before proving themselves to be players of some worth abroad and that, in some respects, augurs well for our development.
This is a fact that will both help and hurt this time around. The overseas talent pool that Jamaica has to select from will be a known fact to anyone who follows the game more than casually. The expectations for the team are high, so not a great many countries will be caught off-guard.
They will be aware of the fact that recent results and ranking have been achieved with many of the top players left out of the line-up.
Of course, the local talent should not or cannot be bypassed but the focus now has to be on forming a consistent unit and identity.
That being said, if you find it difficult to warm to the return of the sweet-talking Brazilian to local soil, you must have a heart made of ice. In his opening remarks he is on the right track in several respects.
A call for the return to the unity, oneness and support, which was a major factor in the '98 campaign, is a great place to start.
The Brazilian has also highlighted teamwork and forming a 'family'-based team as a major concern and that should foster discipline - the hallmark of any successful team. The insistence on regular friendly internationals and a commitment to continued development are also other winning points.
kwesi.mugisa@gleanerjm.com
