Jamaica's Demar Phillips in action during the 2009 Gold Cup. - file

TORRANCE, California:

STUNG by an insipid performance in the previous campaign, Jamaica's senior footballers are bent on making a statement this time with a strong showing at the CONCACAF Gold Cup football tournament, when they kick off against Grenada in the opening Group B match-up today at 6 p.m. (8 p.m. Jamaica time).

The match will be followed by a clash involving the other competitors in Group B, Guatemala and Honduras, at 8 p.m. (10 p.m. Jamaica time).

Two of the four, along with the top-placed third-place duo, will advance past the group stage preliminary phase.

Embarrassed by that finish two years ago, and the sending home of a player for disciplinary reasons, the Reggae Boyz have sharpened their focus.

"Not performing in the last Gold Cup we've some players here with a bitter taste in their mouth," said Shavar Thomas, who led the team in their last tournament fixtures, the Digicel Caribbean Cup. "We want to show that we're at least genuine competitors and we can compete and contend for the championship."

genuine contenders

He added: "The last Gold Cup was a total fiasco and it was a sad situation because we had a tremendous group of players with tremendous talent, who could have gone a long way. This time around we don't want to come here, compete, play three games and just go home. We're coming here as genuine contenders for the championship."

Many players in the squad are seasoned in international and professional club competition, and a vast deal were members of Jamaica's championship success in the Caribbean championship, culminating in an extra-time 2-1 finals victory over the Grenadians, now ranked 98th by FIFA.

The fortunes of both countries seem have to have taken contrasting turns in recent times, with Grenada losing two of their most influential players for this contest, striker Kitson Bain and midfielder Shalrie Joseph, their captain.

Bain has troubled Jamaica's defence in every recent match, even scoring in the Digicel Cup final.

For varying reasons, Jamaica, ranked 55th in the FIFA world rankings, will not have veteran central defenders Tyrone Marshall and Ian Goodison, along with striker Omar Cummings, for this and other encounters.

Cummings actually scored the last time both teams met and while injury will rule out his participation, his team should be less affected with a strike force boasting the dangerous triumvirate of Ryan Johnson, Dane Richards and the nation's all-time leading scorer, Luton Shelton.

perfect lead-off

Theodore Whitmore - file photos

All were part of a nine-day camp in Brazil, which head coach, Theodore Whitmore, thinks was the perfect lead-off into this competition.

"We have been doing some work from Brazil and after arriving here and continuing to do well, I don't see how we can't come away from this first encounter with three points," he remarked.

While they were in Brazil, they played two matches and lost against top-flight teams Palmeiras (2-0) and Santos (2-1), with midfielder Jason Morrison netting the only goal.

Morrison will start in central midfield with Rudolph Austin, with Eric Vernan and Demar Phillips playing wide roles in attack and defence, where Thomas, Dicoy Williams and Jermaine Taylor provide a buffer for goalie Donovan Ricketts.

Like Whitmore, Thomas cited the importance of taking maximum points off their opening game.

He said: "It's very, very important that we get a good start because it can set the tone for the rest of the other two games and where we end up in terms of qualifying for the second phase so we need to start on a positive note and build a momentum from there."

Jamaica's highest finish in a Gold Cup tournament has been third, which they attained in 1993 and 1998.