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Jamaica, US to clash in quarterfinals
October 17, 2024
Jamaica's Reggae Boyz will next face tough rivals the United States (US) in the Concacaf Nations League, with the teams drawn for the quarterfinals in November.
Jamaica will host to US in the first leg at the National Stadium in Kingston on Thursday, November 14, before an away fixture in the return leg on Monday, November 18.
The fixture will be a rematch of the semi-finals of the last edition of the competition, where the Boyz suffered a bitter 3-1 extra-time defeat.
Jamaica will enter the fixture knowing it will be an uphill task against an opponent they last defeated in 2019 (1-0) through a wonder strike from Shamar Nicholson.
Since then, the teams have met on seven different occasions, with the Americans winning five and the other two ending in draws.
The match will also be the competitive managerial debut for the newly appointed Reggae Boyz British head coach Steve McClaren, and the US head coach Mauricio Pochettino, the acclimated Argentine manager who took charge of the their senior men's national team last month.
Since his appointment, the US defeated Panama 2-0 before falling to Mexico by a similar scoreline.
For Reggae Boyz boss McClaren, the fixture will put his unbeaten record on the line as he will face his sternest opposition yet.
McClaren is aware of the challenge ahead and said if Jamaica wants to be competitive at the top level, then the team will need to be more confident in their style of play and more effective when on the ball.
"Like everything, you're going to ask for consistency. The players have taken it on and tried to implement it. They understand it but we're not doing it fluidly at the present moment. But what I like is we make mistakes but we're still brave enough to keep the ball and keep searching," McClaren observed.
"This is difficult to do but if you want to compete and to get to the World Cup, then you're going to have to want the ball, keep the ball and be brave on the ball. That is the mentality," he added.
The winner of the quarterfinals will advance to the Nations League semi-finals and book their spot in the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup.
The losing team will head to the Concacaf Gold Cup preliminaries for another chance of qualifying for the Gold Cup Finals.
U17 Reggae Girlz
Meanwhile, the U17 Reggae Girlz have been drawn in Group E for round one of the CONCACAF U-17 Women's Qualifiers alongside Nicaragua and St Kitts and Nevis.
The first round is set to kick off in January 2025, where six group winners and the two best second-placed teams will advance to the final round of qualifiers.
Should Jamaica advance, they will join the top four ranked teams in the region, the United States, Mexico, Canada and Haiti, to compete for a spot in the 2025 U17 FIFA Women's World Cup.
All Group E matches will be hosted in Nicaragua.
