KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Reggae Boyz striker Darren Mattocks says the squad’s confidence is soaring ahead of next Friday’s opening 2018 World Cup qualifier against Nicaragua.
Jamaica are coming off a successful in the recently held CONCACAF Gold Cup where they upset the form books to reach the final and Mattocks said the colourful side would be looking to build on this in the World Cup qualifying competition.
“Most our overseas fans came to watch us [at the Gold Cup] and were really pleased,” the Vancouver Whitecaps frontman told the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper.
“But the real die-hard fans are in Jamaica, so what we did in the Gold Cup and Copa America we want to bring back home. We expect a big turn out and we are hoping to deliver on these two games.
“So I just want all the fans to come out, we want it to be a sold out game and we want to treat the Jamaican fans to a good performance.” Jamaica proved to be the find of the Gold Cup. Pitted against the likes of 2014 World Cup quarter-finalists Costa Rica, El Salvador and Canada, they produced a series of strong performances to top the group.
They then edged Haiti in the quarter-finals, stunned United States in the semi-finals before going down to Mexico in the final.
Well poised at 55th in the FIFA rankings, Jamaica take on a Nicaragua side at 144th but Mattocks said the ranking of their opponent would not be consideration.
“I don’t even know how much they (Nicaragua) are ranked, but that is how serious we are. It doesn’t matter who we play and if they are ranked in the 100s or outside the 100s,” Mattocks pointed out.
“We approach all games the same with discipline and hard work, so we are not going to take no team for granted because in football you have upsets and we don’t want that, so we are going to approach that game like it’s USA in the semi-finals [of the Gold Cup].”
The first leg of the qualifier will be staged at the National Stadium here with the return leg in Managua on September 8.
The contest will be Jamaica’s first game in the competition and midfielder Je-Vaughn Watson said the side would be focused on winning every fixture.
“World Cup qualifiers is the bigger picture, every game is important, you want to win every game and we are going to do whatever we have to do to make sure we come out victorious,” the FC Dallas player said.
“It’s going to be a tough task, but we just have to go out there with a lot of confidence and make sure we score goals. We are playing at home and there is no way we want to tie or lose the game.”