Jamaica's Damion Stewart stretches to get the ball away from Guatemala's Edwin Villatoro (right) during their CONCACAF Gold Cup match at the Home Depot Center in Carson last week. Jamaica face regional kingpins Mexico tonight for top place in Group C. - REUTERS
HOUSTON, Texas:
THE THOUGHT of Jamaica topping a tournament group with Mexico, or even more, eliminating them, may seem mightily profound. Yet, as odd as it appears, those are some of the possibilities facing the Reggae Boyz who have never won against Mexico in a tournament.
They have been beaten badly the majority of times they've played in Mexico, but have been competitive on neutral grounds and though in their backyard this time at neighbouring Texas, the Boyz, with six changes to the team which started their last game, are gunning to win tonight's gigantic Group C clash against the regional kingpins, in their CONCACAF Gold Cup fixture at Houston Reliant Stadium.
TOUGH ONE FOR BOYZ
"We'll be extremely positive, we would very much like to top the zone," Jamaica's head coach Wendell Downswell told The Gleaner ahead of the team's final training session at the match venue last night, adding that "looking at the teams there's not much between them right now so we are going into the game very positive."
Continuing his assessment, he said: "We know that the Mexico game will be a tough one for us. In the region, they (Mexico) are one of the better teams. They came from the Confederations Cup quite confident. They've brought some young players here giving them exposure, but despite that they'll be coming out there to fight. And, based on the fact that they'll be in Texas where they'll have a large contingent of supporters, it will be a humdinger, we are really looking forward to the challenge."
Kick-off is 9:00 p.m. (Ja time), but here at that time the sun is still out and the Boyz are hoping to shine just as bright to win the zone.
They now lead on four points, the same as South Africa. Mexico are next on three points, trailed by the group's other team, Guatemala, who are yet to score after two defeats.
The latter Central American team gets its final chance to tally something in tonight's curtain-raiser at 7:00, knowing it will be without the services of key player and captain, Guillermo Ramirez, who was red carded in its last game against Mexico on Sunday.
AWESOME MEXICANS
In that match, the Mexicans displayed awesome form, thrashing the opponent 4-0 to assure a qualifying spot for the next round. That process is not fully complete, but it would take a highly improbable confluence of events in this and the other two groups for them not to advance.
The top two teams and top two third-place finishers in the three zones will make up the quarter-final eight, so Mexico would have to lose - and lose badly - to throw away their chances and finish in the lower third of this 12-nation championship.
There really isn't any sign which suggests that should happen, as they have not defended terribly, though conceding two goals in their only loss, a surprising 2-1 loss against South Africa in their first match.
Even in that match, the Mexicans, like they did against Guatemala, created a good amount of scoring chances and got two crucial early goals from their target man, captain and central striker Jared Borgetti.
PLAYER CHANGES
Interestingly, Borgetti numbers among five players who started in both matches so, like Jamaica, Mexico could be ringing the changes.
Defenders Francisco Rodriguez, Carlos Arnaldo Salcido and Ricardo Osorio, along with midfielder Antonio Naelson are the other regular starters.
Due to his scoring proficiency, Borgetti, who also scored important goals in the recent Confederations Cup to lead Mexico to an admirable fourth-place finish, has attracted special attention.
"We'll definitely be man-marking him," Downswell assured. "He has been their main scorer and he's very strong in the air so we'll have to pay close attention to him."
Otherwise, a major plus for the Boyz is that they have been creating a whole lot of goal chances and scored seven times in two matches, the best among all participants.
GOAL DEFICIENCY
There is a major blot though. They have defended poorly and conceded a whopping six goals - three in each match - a dubious record they are looking to slash against the best offensive team they will face since launching into this Gold Cup trip.
"It's a major concern as it relates to our defence and it's something we've got to work on, especially when we go up against a team like Mexico," admitted Downswell.
They worked extensively on their goal-protection deficiency in their first practice in Houston - the same day they arrived on Monday - and did the same yesterday.
Experienced and key man, sweeper Tyrone Marshall, will be rested to continue recuperating from a thigh injury he sustained in a clash with a South African opponent on Sunday and three other members of the regular defensive unit won't play.
