When their charter takes off from the Norman Manley International Airport bound for Panama City this morning, the climbing jet carrying Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz will be symbolic of the soaring hopes of a nation.

The Boyz, 25 strong, will seek to conjure a miracle in the desire of reversing a spell of unfortunate results in their Brazil 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign that leave them at the bottom of the six-nation play-offs with a measly two points from six matches.

As it stands, there’s only one way for them to go if they want to pull off the great escape, and that is up.

With a “strong” squad assembled made up of a combination of UK, Scandinavia, USA, and local-based players, and for those optimistic in a change of fortunes, the sky is the limit.

New head coach, German Winfried Schafer, said it best as he put the realities in perspective:

“We must go to Panama confident, with power.”

Nothing less than the best players, jacked up on a sense of mission and heart, will suffice in this crisis situation as Jamaica aim to resurrect its dying campaign.

“I want players who have heart for Jamaica… if they don’t have heart, I don’t want them,” said Schafer, who is a well-travelled and respected tactician of the game.

“We have to be a team, not 11 players, but a team, with a strong bench, strong 11 on the field. We must give the players confidence, and we must trust the players, and the players must fight for each other,” said the former Cameroon coach as he spoke with journalists earlier this week.

With 27 players named for both the Panama match-up and another qualifier on Tuesday against Costa Rica inside the National Stadium in Kingston, Schafer was expected to trim his squad to 25 after a late training session at the Stadium East facility yesterday.

As a boost for the death-defying two-match mission, Schafer sought to reinforce his ranks by luring out of retirement the enigmatic striker Marlon King.

Also, he re-invited from the wilderness winger Chris Humphrey, who, along with King, received bans for impinging on the team’s code of conduct during a friendly match, incidentally against tomorrow’s opponent Panama.

Shunned striker, Luton Shelton, is also back.

With the team’s rearguard weakened by the injury of the rock-solid Nyron Nosworthy, the German sought to add cement and steel back there by adding new faces in Leicester City captain Westley Morgan, and Reading wingback Shaun Cummings.

Meanwhile, Reading skipper, midfielder Jobi McAnuff, who missed the last couple of games “for personal reasons”, is also back.

Outstanding central defender Adrian Mariappa, who signed for English Premiership outfit Crystal Palace from Reading FC on Monday, has also been included, though he remains ineligible for tomorrow’s game against Panama, having received a red card in Jamaica’s last game against Honduras on June 11.

Morgan, 29, said he remains optimistic that the Boyz can make it to Brazil, but of course “it is time to get some wins under our belts”.

“We still have every chance, we still have four games and we just have to go out there and do the job on the pitch and get some points,” he said, echoing what must be the common sentiment of his teammates.

And at last night’s training session, number two goalkeeper Dwayne Miller appealed injured and unlikely to figure in the game against Panama.

The Syrianska goaltender is suspected to have picked up a strain, but team doctor Derrick McDowell was not prepared to comment last night.

Waterhouse custodian Richard McCallum was seen training with the team, an indication that he could be Miller’s replacement as the team departs today.

The USA lead the hexagonal play-offs on 13 points, followed by Costa Rica on 11, Mexico eight, Honduras seven, Panama six, and Jamaica lying at the bottom with a despairing two points.

At the end of the exercise, the three top finishers will advance automatically to Brazil 2014, with the fourth place team set for a home-and-away decider with the champions from Oceania.