Jamaica's Demar Phillips (right) turns the ball away from Costa Rica's Junior Diaz (centre), while Alvaro Sanchez looks on during the September 2010 friendly at the National Stadium. Jamaica won 1-0, courtesy of a 65th-minute goal by Ryan Johnson. - File

Jamaica's national senior men's football team, the Reggae Boyz, will continue their build up to the 'Road to Rio' World Cup campaign, which is set to kick off in June, when they tackle CONCACAF rivals Costa Rica in an international friendly tonight at the National Stadium beginning at 8.

Leading Canadian referee, David Gantar, has been appointed to officiate in the game.

Jamaica and Costa Rica, who were due to arrive last night, have met on 20 previous occasions with the latter registering eight wins to the Reggae Boyz six, while six have ended in draws.

The last time the teams met at the National Stadium, in September 2010, Jamaica came away 1-0 winners, courtesy of a Ryan Johnson goal. In their most recent encounter, later that same year in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the teams played to a 0-0 draw.

The Reggae Boyz, who fell four places in the latest FIFA rankings to sit at 54, are looking to continue their recent winning streak, as since the start of the year, they have defeated Caribbean neighbours Cuba, 1-0, and 3-0 before journeying to New Zealand where they conquered the All-Whites 3-2.

goal scorers

The win over New Zealand was highlighted by the fact that the three goal scorers, Xavian Virgo, Tramaine Stewart and Navion Boyd, are all local-based players and were scoring their first senior international goals.

Debutant Jorginho James of Kingston College also netted his first international senior goal in the 1-0 win over Cuba after coming on as a late second-half substitute.

The second game against Cuba, which was played at the Montego Bay Sports Complex, also witnessed first time senior team scorers in Je-Vaughn Watson and substitute Mitchily Waul, while Johnson was the third scorer on the night.

Costa Rica, ranked 59th in the world, after moving up four places in the latest rankings, should also be high on confidence as they come into the encounter on a four-game unbeaten run which includes a 2-2 draw with World Cup Champions Spain, a 2-0 win on the road over Venezuela and a 1-0 win over Wales in Cardiff.

Jamaica's head coach Theodore Whitmore will no doubt be using the game to further assess various local-based players vying to be a part of the squad leading up to the 2012 World Cup qualifying round.

Whitmore said: "It is just for the players to put into the game what they have been doing in practice over the past two weeks." Both countries are expected to use mainly local-based players in today's encounter. The two overseas-based Reggae Boyz players, who have made the trip are Jermaine Taylor and Je-Vaughn Watson of United States Major League outfit Houston Dynamo.

The next stage of World Cup qualifying will see Jamaica playing out of Group A where they will be joined by Guatemala, Antigua and Barbuda and the United States of America.

Meanwhile, the Jamaica Football Federation has advised that the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) has put in place special transportation support, including shuttle service combined with the regular service for today's international friendly.

Between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. (match time) there will be service from Half-Way Tree to the National Stadium. At the end of the match buses will travel directly from the National Stadium to downtown Kingston; Half-Way Tree; Harbour View, Portmore and Spanish Town. Normal rates of $80 to $100 will apply.

Jermaine Taylor ... will be one of the key players for Jamaica today. - File