CATHERINE HALL, St James — FOOTBALL boss Captain Horace Burrell and the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) hope Montego Bay will be their path back to the CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament after missing out last year.

Two years ago, a Theodore Whitmore-coached Jamaica team, made up mostly of local-based players, failed to get past the first round of the Caribbean Football Union’s Caribbean Championships and missed the lucrative CONCACAF.

This week, the Reggae Boyz under Whitmore’s successor Winfried Schaefer will be seeking a place in at least the top four and an automatic spot in the Gold Cup next year.

Jamaica opened its account against Martinique at the Montego Bay Sports Complex last night and will face Antigua & Barbuda tomorrow night and Haiti on Sunday in Group B action.

Defending champions Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago, Curacao and French Guiana are the four nations in Group A.

The winners of each group after three first-round games will meet in next Tuesday’s finals after the runners-up play in the consolation game.

A fifth team could also advance to the CONCACAF play-off as they will engage the fifth-placed team from the Central American

Confederation in a home-and-away series for the rights.

The Jamaican team and coach Winfried Schaefer will be under pressure to produce positive results after winning just two games since Schaefer took over from Whitmore late in the failed World Cup qualifying campaign.

Qualifying for the Gold Cup would be a step in the right direction, but most fans will not be satisfied unless the Reggae Boyz win the event.

Just five local-based players, including Reno FC’s striker Craig Foster, were invited to the Jamaica squad by Schaefer.

Foster scored 10 goals to lead the Red Stripe Premier League goal-scoring race.