Theodore Whitmore - File

Los Angeles, CALIFORNIA:

HAVING undergone extensive preparation, the Reggae Boyz will look to blast off their Gold Cup championship ambitions with a winning start against Canada in the opening match of the 2009 edition at the Home Depot Center this evening.

"We want to do well in this competition and we've to start by winning tomorrow," Jamaica's head coach, Theodore Whitmore, said after the team's training session at the match venue here yesterday evening.

The Boyz will kick off the show in the first game of a double- header at 5 p.m. (7 p.m. Jamaica time), to be followed by a latino showdown between Central Americans Costa Rica and El Salvador at 7 p.m. (9 p.m. Jamaica time).

Atoning for their World Cup elimination is also key on the Reggae Boyz's mind. They fell out of the race by virtue of goal difference to Mexico in November after winning three consecutive games.

high-powered squad

With the exception of striker Marlon King, the Jamaicans have lined up virtually that same high-powered squad and have been successful in practice encounters that formed part of their preparation, this after crowning themselves kings of the Caribbean by winning the Digicel Caribbean Championship in December.

The Boyz drew goalless with a strong Nigeria team in England in February, then drew 2-2 and 0-0 with Haiti and El Salvador, respectively, in the United States, before beating Panama 3-2 in Kingston last month.

"I'm pretty much happy with our preparation coming into the Gold Cup," Whitmore noted. "We had a good crop of players going into the World Cup qualifiers and coming into this tournament, but at the end of the day, it's what we do out on the pitch that determines the result.

"I'm pretty much confident. We have the goods, it's just for us to deliver now."

In the World Cup qualifiers in November last year, Jamaica beat Canada 3-0 at home. They also drew 0-0 with another team in its group, El Salvador, in a friendly international in Washington, DC, recently.

Whitmore, however, stated that past results count for nothing and as such, they will have to work hard to get positive results.

"We've to put that behind us," he said of the contests. "It's a different team. Both the Canada team and the El Salvador teams are different, so we've to take a different approach to this game."

The Canada team includes Jamaica-born Simeon Jackson, who scored in one of their two latest warm-up matches, a 1-0 win over the Cypriots in Cyprus on May 30.

They won their following practice match 3-0 over Guatemala on Tuesday to mark the end of a six-day camp. Ali Gerba scored a double and Patrice Bernier netted the other goal in that win, which was the first in the second stint as head coach for Stephen Hart, who is Trinidadian.

After that victory, Canadian defender Kevin McKenna, was quoted as saying in a FIFA website article: "I think we can go positive into the game against Jamaica."

top players

( l - r ) Jermaine Johnson, Rodolph Austin, Jamal Campbell-Ryce - file

In their most recent meetings, apart from the 3-0 win in Kingston on November 19 last year, the number 65-ranked Reggae Boyz

tied 1-1 without several of its top players in Canada at the BMO Field in Toronto in World Cup qualifying last year.

Deportivo de la Coruna midfielder Julian de Guzman, who scored in that matchup for Canada - who are ranked 92nd by FIFA - headlines their team, which will seek major contributions from Jackson, Gerba, McKenna, Atiba Hutchinson and veteran Paul Stalteri.

This is the 10th staging of the competition and hosts the United States are the defending champions.

On-form Costa Rica, the United States, Honduras and perennial contenders Mexico rank among obstacles standing in Jamaica's path to the title.

Following round-robin action in the first round, the group winners and runners-up, along with the two leading third-place teams, will advance to the eight-nation quarter-final stage. Those matches will be played in Philadelphia and Dallas on July 18 and 19.

Jamaica's next first round engagement is against Costa Rica in Columbus, Ohio, on July 7, after which they will face El Salvador at the FIU Stadium in Miami, Florida on, July 10.