Jamaica Football Federation president, Captain Horace Burrell. - File photos

FORT-DE-FRANCE, Martinique:

The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) president, Captain Horace Burrell, has dedicated the Reggae Boyz Digicel Caribbean Cup triumph to the Jamaican people, following the team's penalty shoot-out win over Guadeloupe at the Stade Pierre Aliker on Sunday night.

"I am elated that we have won this tournament, and this victory, I think, is for the Jamaican people," Burrell said after the final. "I think the Jamaican people deserve this victory, and certainly I would think that this victory belongs to them."

The teams battled fiercely to a 1-1 scoreline through full time and 30 minutes of extra time. Omar Cummings gave Jamaica the lead with a goal at the 32nd minute, while Ludovic Gotin equalised for Guadeloupe at the 37th.

"I believe this game was one of the hardest games that we've played because noticeably we had an unfortunate situation in that in the last game we played, we went into extra time and therefore, to play only the day after in another game to get into extra time was extremely difficult," Burrell explained.

resilience

He added: "In addition to that, a few of our players were out. For example, Ryan Johnson was out because of an injury. He was a key player as well, and therefore we were down to just resilience and I'm just happy that the players gave it their all and pulled off this one, because it was not easy it was really a huge task and congratulations must go to the players, staff and all who performed so well and gained this victory."

The victory ensured a landmark achievement for Theodore 'Tappa' Whitmore, the head coach, who also won the title as a player on his country's 1998 team. No other person has achieved that unique double in Caribbean football.

"I am not surprised. Coach Whitmore has demonstrated that he has the wherewithal to become a champion coach," Burrell expressed. "You could say he's an introvert who has done extremely well, and I am very pleased with his performance. I think that there is still a lot to come from coach Whitmore. He's a confident coach, he's a disciplined coach and he instils that within the players.

'When you exhibit these qualities you can only go from strength to strength. Congratulations again to coach Whitmore, the entire coaching staff and all who certainly worked together to achieve this victory for Jamaica," he added.

At one point, the Jamaicans could have lost out on the opportunity to defend their title, after issuing an ultimatum to the JFF that they be paid US$1,200 per diem plus 80 per cent of any cash prize won, or they would have withdrawn.

That happened after they had won their first preliminary game in a tournament where they were by far the most dominant team - going unbeaten while scoring 13 goals and conceding three. But Burrell, who used his own funds to meet their per diem demand and head off that dispute, refused to comment on the issues at this time.

"I have decided not to speak to that now," he said. "I think this is a time to enjoy the victory. Certainly, as I said before, we will speak to that at the appropriate time."