AUDLEY BOYD, ASSISTANT Editor-Sports

ATLANTA, Georgia:

Only recently, Winfried Schäfer continuously spoke to the benefits of set pieces, noting the difference it would have made had his Jamaica team been getting it right in one-goal defeats at the Copa América to Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina.

"We feel we're pretty strong on set pieces. It's something we've worked on quite a lot," Giles Barnes admitted.

"We have two people who can throw the ball really long and we go through free-kick routine all the time. That's one of our strong points, so when we get opportunities to score or load the box up, that's what we're going after."

Barnes, who had smashed a free kick against the bar in Jamaica's 1-0 win over Canada in Houston at the group stage, said once captain Rodolph 'Rudi' Austin declined the kick, he was up for the challenge.

"Coach has three or four of us working on the free kicks daily, and to be honest, Rudi pointed out and say "no"; and I said "I definitely want it if you don't want it", and then to see it going in was just incredible," the 26-year-old striker said.

Schäfer noted his belief in Barnes.

"I'm very confident about this leader. He's a leader, he goes one against one against the defenders and fight," the 65-year-old coach admitted. "It's not easy for a goal and you need inspiration for a free-kick.

"Today (Wednesday), I got two goals from set plays. In Copa América maybe 70 per cent of the goals were from free kicks and corners," Schäfer added.