Bradford City favourite Lawrence recalls the time he faced Brazil

Just 16 months after winning the World Cup in 2002, the Samba superstars were lined up for a friendly against Jamaica in Leicester.

City favourite Lawrence, never one to back down from a challenge, was relishing the chance of pitting his skills with the best players on the planet.

Merson’s mickey-taking wasn’t going to put him off beforehand.

“I was playing for Walsall at that time and Mers is obviously in my changing room,” said Lawrence. “He’s having a joke with me, saying ‘you Jamaicans can’t play football, you’re going to get smashed by seven or eight’.

“He was trying to get in my head but I just laughed and said you’ll see. There was no chance we were going to get hammered like that.”

Brazil’s team sheet for that game reads like a fantasy who’s who - Roberto Carlos, Kaka, Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Cafu … seven of them had started the World Cup final win over Germany in Yokohama.

Lawrence recalled: “We got the team sheet and you looked down the names. They had three world players of the year on there - Rivaldo, Kaka and obviously the main man Ronaldo.

“The only one missing was Ronaldinho because he was injured. But you’re thinking, ‘XXXX me, this is the ultimate test’.

“But I was never one who got star struck. The bigger the game, the better I played.

“I always thought that I was there because I deserved to be. I just wanted to give a good account of myself.

“I was playing in holding midfield, my position for Jamaica, and my job was normally to mark the danger man.

“But I was out there thinking, ‘I don’t know who I’m meant to be marking?’ They had about four of them rotating in there.

“All I could do was try to protect my back four as much as possible.

“Brazil were so clever, not just with their movement but you also don’t realise how strong they were. They were different gravy.”

The winning goal itself from Roberto Carlos was similar to the bending free-kick that bamboozled England. Struck with power from 30 yards out, it swerved late inside the far post to beat future Bantams keeper Donovan Ricketts.

It stayed 1-0 in front of a full house enjoying the carnival atmosphere. But Lawrence sensed that Brazil were playing within themselves.

“I had a suspicion that they could have turned it up whenever they wanted to. But it was great to prove yourself against the best in the world.

“Ronaldo played the whole game with a smile on his face. He was different class.

Ronaldo, right, and Rivaldo both played against Jamaica at Leicester (Image: PA)

“I’ve played against Henry, Bergkamp, Scholes whatever in the Premier League but he was head and shoulders above anybody I’ve ever seen.

“His movement, his strength, how clever he was, he just had everything - the most complete centre forward I’ve played against.

“But for me, he was just another opponent. A couple of my mates were at the game and were like, ‘you loved sticking it on players like that’, but if the ball’s there to be won I’m winning it.

“That was my mentality always, whoever we were playing. I thought I did all right that day.”

The Reggae Boyz had qualified for their first finals five years earlier in France with an influx of English-based players. But they have not been back since.

Lawrence blames the lack of infrastructure behind the scenes.

“They put themselves on the map in 1998 but I feel they should have qualified for more World Cups with the players they had.

“I’m still in contact with a lot of the team from the past, (Ricardo) Fuller, (Ricardo) Gardner and the like, they were good players.

"It was just the (lack of) professionalism that stopped Jamaica getting to another finals.

“We’d go over there and have 20 players staying in a house with no air con. We were like students.

Jamie Lawrence in Premier League action for the Bantams (Image: Newsquest)

“We’d do our training and then disappear in the daytime and go out so we didn’t have to spend any time inside.

“(Sebastiao) Lazaroni was the best coach I’ve ever had. He was the one who found Ronaldinho, so he knew the game.

“He used to get Micah Hyde and me in and explain our tactics and how he wanted us to play together and we’d follow it to the letter. He was good for me.

“But even now, Jamaica haven’t got an academy. They haven’t got their own pitch - you go to the national stadium and everyone's on there.

“The money they got from the World Cup just got squandered away. It’s not good enough, it's a real shame.”

Lawrence is keeping a keen eye on Ghana’s progress in Qatar after working for the Black Stars as their fitness coach in their African Cup of Nations tournaments in 2015 and 2017.

But he feels they are also being held back by off-field shortcomings.

“It’s the same old thing, I think there were eight teams playing at the national stadium as one stage when I was there.

“They don’t give their coaches a chance, either. Charles Akonnor was in charge but I couldn’t believe the pressure they put that guy under.

“On the day we’d be playing South Africa, he’d be summonsed for a board meeting about his tactics for the game.

“It wasn’t even in the office, it would take place where you had lunch and all the players could see everything!

“But I loved working with the squad. There is a lot of talent and they can shock a few people in this competition.”

The World Cup is still waiting for its first African winner. Lawrence can see it happening one day - but not until they get everything right off the pitch.

Jamie Lawrence was capped 24 times by Jamaica between 2000 and 2004 (Image: Thomas Gadd)

“Ghana haven’t got a training ground. We had to go and find one.

“This is why certain clubs don’t want their players to go and play for them.

“Thomas Partey is challenging for the title with Arsenal right now. You don’t want him having to play on the pitches like that.

“I remember in 2017 when Baba Rahman was at Chelsea. We played on this pitch in Gabon that was awful and he did his cruciate.

“Chelsea were raging, I was raging to see something like that happen.

“You look at someone like Morocco who are best equipped. They’ve got all the GPS, an immaculate training ground, everything you want.

“Players go there and think, ‘this is a proper facility’. That’s what the other African countries need to happen.”