ANOTHER game, another defeat. But Jamaica’s forward Jermaine Beckford thinks Jamaica are not “far off” turning the corner, despite conceding late in a 1-2 World Cup qualifying loss to the United States on Friday at the National Stadium.

An obviously disappointed Beckford, who opened his Reggae Boyz goal-scoring account with a headed equaliser, defended the under-fire team, while downplaying his own achievement after entering the game as a substitute.

“It’s not about personal performance, I’ll be honest with you… we all got a job to do.

“A lot of people might disagree with what I’m about to say, but I don’t think we are that far off exactly where we need to be.

“Today (Friday) we dominated large parts of the game and it was the same (for the 0-1 defeat on Tuesday) against Mexico, but it’s just those little mistakes. Whether that’s upfront with myself and the other forwards need to win a header or stand a little stronger, or a man in midfield being half-a-yard too short, or a defender being slightly out of position. We are all in it together and it’s these tiny little mistakes we need to eradicate and we are very close,” the Huddersfield forward told the Sunday Observer after the USA clash.

When asked if the team got carried away trying to get the winner instead of settling for a point after the late equaliser, Beckford said:

“Everyone of us just needs to be that little bit more disciplined, I think. The USA is a very strong side but… I thought, as well as the rest of the players and the (technical) staff, that we deserved a little bit more than just a point from the game hence the reason we went searching for it (the win),” he said.

Midfield ochestrator Jermaine Hue shared Beckford’s opinion that punishable errors have been the Boyz’ major enemy.

“After we scored the (equalising) goal we were on the front foot. We got a corner and they counter-attacked and they got a corner at the other end and a little lapse in concentration in the box and they got the opportunity to score (the second goal).

“The two games we played excellently and we could have come out with a point in each game, but (for) the mistakes in the 18-yard box when defending. The team has the quality to win games and we definitely did not deserve to lose tonight,” the Harbour View player said.

He niftily sidestepped details of the tactical aspects, but challenged his teammates to convert more of the opportunities created.

Hue also felt he had more freedom to attack the US team than he did in the Mexico encounter.

“I think whoever goes onto the pitch has the quality and we just have to capitalise on our chances. That (the tactical approach) is up to the coach.

“I think we were better tonight (Friday night) and got better possession and had better opportunities. This game I was higher up the pitch where the defensive midfielders brought the ball to me and then I could be the link with the strikers, but all in all I’m not totally satisfied with myself,” he said, while adding that he wants to get shots at goal and hoped that attackers would finish off his passes.

New recruit Daniel Gordon, who is still finding his way in the central defensive partnership with Adrian Mariappa, took blame for Jozi Altidore’s headed opener.

“We didn’t do too much wrong but we made maybe three mistakes and (conceded) two goals.

“He (Altidore) was in my back and it took one second and he pushed away and scored the goal and of course it was my mistake… it was my fault and I tried my best to help the team, but today (Friday) we lost. We have to keep trying to be disciplined for the whole game and we slipped one second and they scored the (second) goal,” the tall-framed Germany-based player bemoaned.