Head coach Whitmore confident of victory as WCQs begin

Ryon Jones, Staff Reporter

Jamaica's senior men football coach Theodore, Whitmore is undaunted by the fact that the Reggae Boyz enter today's CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying (WCQ) semi-final opening Group A game against Guatemala at the National Stadium on the back of two consecutive defeats in friendly internationals against Panama.

The other two members of the group, United States and Antigua and Barbuda, will meet at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. Match time is set for 8:30 p.m.

Jamaica suffered its first defeat at 'The Office' since 2007 when they went down 1-0 to the Panamanians on May 27, followed by a 2-1 defeat in the return fixture five days later.

Whitmore has, however, dismissed those two encounters as practice games and is confident that the Boyz will secure victory in today's real deal.

"Practice games are different from competitive football, we have put the Panama games behind us, and we are looking forward to our first World Cup qualifying game at home," Whitmore said following last night's training session at the National Stadium.

Jamaica will be without prolific striker, Marlon King, who along with new invitee Chris Humphrey, was suspended for having transgressed curfew rules following the June 1 meeting with Panama in Panama City. The squad is, however, not short of attacking options with the likes of Luton Shelton, Ricardo Fuller, Ryan Johnson, Dane Richards and Demar Phillips. Whitmore is confident that the available players will be able to get the job done.

"The players know what they have to do; we have been working all week and the hunger, the commitment and the focus is there, so I don't see what should stop us from getting three points tomorrow," Whitmore said.

The 60th-ranked Boyz have never lost to their Central American counterparts in 12 meetings, registering nine victories, with three of the encounters ending in draws. The last two encounters between the teams saw the Reggae Boyz register 2-0 victory margins.

Guatemala, who seek to qualify for a first ever World Cup, is coming off a rare win over Costa Rica, after registering a moral boasting 1-0 victory thanks to a headed goal by their leading goal scorer and captain Carlos Ruiz.

"We will see if we can tie or win here and then we receive the United States at home and try to win that game," Ruiz said following Tuesday night's training session.