Whitmore

WEEHAWKEN, New Jersey:

WHOLESALE changes will be made to the Reggae Boyz starting unit, but they are aiming to knock over Honduras and top Group B in their top-of-the-table clash, at the Red Bull Arena in the Meadowlands tonight. Kick-off is set for 9 p.m. (8 p.m. Jamaica time).

The match will be preceded by a 7 p.m. (6 p.m. Jamaica time) clash between Guatemala and a weak Grenada team, who lost their opening games 4-0 and 7-1, respectively, to Jamaica and Honduras.

Six members of the Jamaica team have made the first-team roster for the first time, including the unrelated Daleys, Keammar and Omar, who have set up and scored goals off the bench.

With maximum six points from two matches, the Jamaicans need only a draw to top the group. The Hondurans have four points and would overtake their opponents with victory.

"It is a very important game for us because we don't want to finish on a losing note going into the quarter-finals, which is a very important game as well," said Jamaica's head coach, Theodore Whitmore.

Honduras' coach, Fernando Suarez, said: "It's a different game. We have to play differently. It's a different opponent." A loss could also place Honduras' chances of advancing in jeopardy, as only the top two teams are guaranteed safe passage into the quarter-finals. Spots are also available for the top two third-place teams.

Guatemala have one point and could leapfrog Honduras on goal difference, should the latter lose and they beat weak Grenada by a margin that, coupled with the Jamaica result, make Guatemala's goal difference superior to their Central American rivals.

Winning the group would send Jamaica to a quarter-final matchup against the second-place Group C team in Washington DC. Panama lead with six points from two wins, followed by the United States and Canada, who have three apiece after both losing one match. They have one remaining game. The runner-up will play the runner-up from Group A, which will most likely be Costa Rica, at Red Bull Arena.

"With the win we understand that we can win the group," said Honduras' coach Fernando Suarez. "It (Jamaica) is a hard team. They're very fast. They have very good attacking players. The counterattack could be a problem.

"They might give us space and for that we have to be careful, but we're still going to work hard and we're still aiming to win the group," added Suarez.

The countries have met three times in Gold Cup competition, with Honduras winning twice (5-0, 1991) and (2-0, 2000), while Jamaica claimed a 3-1 success in 1993, one of the occasions when they recorded their highest finish, third. They also placed third in 1998.

Jamaica hammered Grenada 4-0 at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles and were similarly efficient in not allowing any goals, while dominating Guatemala 2-0 at the Florida International University, in Miami.

Demar Phillips has been key, scoring three of the goals.

"As much as this game is important, we have a squad of players and a number of changes will be made going into this match and I think these players we are injecting will be hungry," said Whitmore. "So I think it will be more difficult for the Honduran team because they are looking at us and they know what we have, but I think they have a next guess coming."

Whitmore pointed out that yellow cards have played a role in team selection, preferring to rest key players with one booking on the sidelines and prevent them from picking up a second, which would rule them out of the more important quarter-finals, which marks the beginning of the knockout phase.

Goalkeeper Dwayne Miller, Adrian Reid, Omar Daley, Keammar Daley, Jevaughn Watson and Damian Williams who will play central midfield, are getting starts.

The Daleys have been very effective in previous matches off the bench, Keammar providing scoring chances in both games and Omar netting a goal in his only game against Grenada.

Among those excluded from Jamaica's first team are captain and central defender, Shavar Thomas, and goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts, who also leads the team sometimes. Thomas' exclusion is even more acute, given that Tyrone Marshall is no longer available to the Jamaica team, given CONCACAF stipulations that by releasing the player to his MLS club, they made him unavailable for the competition. Jermaine Taylor, who has generally led the team in their absence, will wear the captain's armband.

Guatemala's goalkeeper Ricardo Jerez (right) and Jamaica's Dane Richards battle for the ball in the first half.