6 days ago
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THEODORE ‘TAPPA’ Whitmore, head coach of Mount Pleasant Football Academy, said the onus will be on his team when they open their 2025 Concacaf Caribbean Cup campaign today against Surinamese giants SV Robinhood at 7 p.m. at the National Stadium.
Although hailed as one of the top teams in the region, Mount Pleasant have not had the best of luck in the Caribbean Cup as they were eliminated in the first round last year.
With only one win in their four games played, the St Ann-based club had finished fourth in their group, outside of the top two qualifying spots.
This is a performance Whitmore will not be looking to repeat, as the head coach said they are now prepared to take on the best the region has to offer.
“I think the last tournament that we competed in, we weren’t prepared. We are now prepared for this tournament and it will come down to execution, and the players have been working hard over the past few weeks,” the Mount Pleasant boss said.
“This is our moment that we have been waiting for, and again, it is what takes place out there over the 90 minutes.”
In preparation for the competition, Mount Pleasant have been active in the transfer market, acquiring a number of players while seeing several departures.
Chief among the arrivals are Jamaican international Warner Brown, national goalkeeper Kemar Foster, former national youth representative Romain Blake, Ranaldo Biggs and the Haitian duo of Rapha Intervil and Daniel St Fleur.
Whitmore said the arrivals will play a key role in the team’s ambitions of advancing to the Concacaf Champions Cup, and the players are settled into their new environment.
“We have acquired a number of players, so I think it is now for us to get the right chemistry. I think we are in a good place in terms of their confidence looking forward to game against SV Robinhood.
“So, yes, we’re pretty confident. Yes, we know it is a top team that we’re going up against, but they’re going up against a top team as well. So it will be very interesting.”
Whitmore said there are no concerns on whether their new arrivals will produce on the field, explaining that all their signings were chosen due to their ability to fit the team’s style of play.
He explained that Mount Pleasant will be able to play their trademark attacking football, as each player has proven themselves ready to take to the field.
“I think we would have selected players who will fit our style of play. So the players that we have acquired will know what we want and what we can expect of them,” Whitmore said.
“I’m not the one who will select the team, the players are the ones who will select themselves.”
Jamaica will open their campaign in Group A against SV Robinhood at home, before travelling to the Dominican Republic to take on Moca FC on August 27.
Their third match of the group will see them travel to take on Central FC of Trinidad and Tobago before closing out their group-stage matches at home agains O&M FC.
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