DESPITE HAVING a small mountain to climb on March 13 after his Cavalier lost 0-2 to Inter Miami at the Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale last night, coach Rudolph Speid is feeling optimistic.
Cavalier will have to score two goals to get back into their Concacaf Champions Cup round-of-16 tie after goals from Tadeo Allende in the 61st minute and Luis Suarez in the 83rd put them behind the eight ball.
According to Speid, he will have to do very little to motivate the players for the second leg after they saw the opportunities they had in the first.
“Let them moan and feel dejected for a while. It usually helps. We will give them the day off and then I will go back to train them up from there. I can assure that they will be motivated for a second leg all by themselves,” said Speid.
While Inter looked the more composed team on the ball, Cavalier were not overawed by any means and Speid’s tactic of winning the ball in the middle of the park and transitioning seemed to be working.
In fact, on the stroke of half-time, the Jamaicans thought they were ahead after a diagonal was played back inside for Shaquille Stein to sweep home only to be called off for offside.
Before that, the Caribbean Cup’s most dangerous player, Jalmaro Calvin, hit the woodwork, even as Inter enjoyed all of 66 per cent of the possession.
“There was a missed chance for them to do something extraordinary. It didn’t happen today. There’s still a chance coming up next week, Thursday,” said Speid.
For the first, almost 20 minutes of the second half, Inter looked to be taking more control in more dangerous areas and the opening goal, though a little fortuitous, may not have been a complete surprise.
A seemingly harmless header toward goal, coming from a cross just as harmless-looking, looped toward Cavalier goalkeeper Vino Barclett who palmed it onto the crossbar but not enough for it to go out of touch.
Suarez picked up the deflection on the touchline and after a juggling act, centred where there was a scramble to clear.
Sergio Bousquets, with back to goal, made a sliding challenge for the partially cleared ball. His touch fell to the feet of Allende, who struck past the outstretched legs of two Cavalier players as well as Barclett, who had just got back into position.
The game went back to Cavalier trying to hit quickly and Inter trying to probe patiently before a grounded cross slid off the boot of a defender attempting to control rather than clear and fell to Suarez.
The former Barcelona, Liverpool, and Uruguay ace then made some room for himself before slotting home from just inside the penalty area.
According to Speid, now that his side has seen what Inter are about, the second leg may prove easier to deal with, and not just because of the home advantage.
“Now that we’ve played against this Inter Miami team, it is easier to plan. I thought even after we went down 2-0, we came back. We played very well after that, I thought,” said Speid.
“I’m just happy that the team gave a good account of themselves. We were not overawed. At 2-0 down we haven’t given up. We are going back to Jamaica to rest and wait on them to come to us,” said Speid.
The coach also believes that Inter, despite the vast gap in experience and proven talent, are susceptible to some of the strengths of Cavalier and he will be hoping to exploit some of that.
“We didn’t play on the counter, we played in transition and there is a difference. Even when we win the ball up the field, we play the same way. We thought they were susceptible to that quick transition. I don’t think that will change when they come to Jamaica. We’ll be in more familiar territory and I think the game is not over.”
