Reggae Boyz ready for new look Mexico | Sport

Head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson says the Reggae Boyz are ready to take on whatever selection of players is placed in front of them as Jamaica take on Mexico in their Copa America opener today.

Mexico is expected to field a rotating roster throughout the tournament. However, Hallgrimsson said that regardless of which players take the field, he still expects a fierce battle from the Mexican opponents.

According to Hallgrimsson, Mexico will stick to its usual attacking and direct playing style regardless of the player selection.

“Mexico will always be Mexico, it’s the same style of play no matter who is playing,” he said. “There is a bit of rotation in their squad, but I think the playing style will be the same. They are aggressive, they are direct, they have very fast players and very experienced players, so we have to be compact if we want to get results.”

Hallgrimsson said that despite the rotation in the Mexican squad, he is well aware of the magnitude of the challenge ahead of the match.

One of the main challenges will be the presence of Mexican team captain Edson Alvarez, who is expected to call the shots in midfield.

Alvarez is also the teammate of Reggae Boy Michail Antonio, with the pair representing English Premier League club West Ham United.

NO WEAKNESS IN THE TEAM

“I don’t know if my scouts have spoken to Antonio about him, but we watch a lot of the English league, so we know a lot about the players who play in England,” he explained. “Like all the other players, we have kept an eye on more or less every individual in the squad over the past few months. We know them quite well and there is no weakness in this Mexican team.”

Jamaica enters the tournament on the back of back-to-back wins in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers, following defeats to the Dominican Republic and Dominica respectively.

Mexico, on the other hand, has lost two of its last three games after a 4-0 thrashing of Uruguay and a narrow 3-2 defeat to Brazil.

However, Hallgrimsson said the team’s form will not play a role in today’s match as Mexico’s losses came against some of the best teams in the world.

“Looking at the opponents they’ve played against recently, they lost to the US, they lost to Brazil and Uruguay, so they’re maybe not the worst teams to play against. They were all good games, all hard-fought games, so they came here knowing what they had to do.

“I don’t think losing to Brazil will take away much confidence from Mexico,” he added.