BY IAN BURNETT

Sport Editor

THOUGH the annual ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ & Girls’ Athletics Championships hold national attention, western Jamaica should come alive this evening when the Reggae Boyz oppose Venezuela in an international friendly slated for 8 o’clock inside the Montego Bay Sports Complex.

Today’s encounter with the FIFA Coca-Cola 72nd-ranked South American team marks the first appearance for the Boyz at the venue where they copped their sixth Caribbean Cup title last November.

Currently ranked at 76 on the FIFA Coca-Cola list, the Reggae Boyz will also face Caribbean neighbours Cuba at the same time and venue next Monday. The games are being used as preparation for the Copa America (South American Championship) scheduled for Chile in June. Jamaica and Mexico will participate as special guests, alongside the 10 South American teams.

Jamaica and Venezuela have met on five occasions with the South Americans holding a three-win, one-loss record — having scored identical 2-0 victories in 1962, when the team met for the first time at the Central America and Caribbean Games; 2003 in a friendly international at Caracas, and in 2011 when the team last met here in Jamaica.

Jamaica’s lone triumph came in 2004 when they edged their visitors 2-1.

Head coach Winfried Schaefer, who told the Jamaica Observer yesterday that he has watched the last two games Venezuela played, is upbeat about today’s engagement.

“They are a very good team,” he said, noting that “they have a lot of players in Europe with very good technique”.

He added: “We need very good tactical fitness, and discipline.”

The Jamaicans assembled in Montego Bay on Monday and have been going through their paces, and Schaefer is pleased with the approach of the players, particularly since being crowned Caribbean champions.

“I am happy with the players, who are in good spirits because they want to come and play for Jamaica. Our image is better than before because we won the Caribbean Cup.

“Many players call now and want to play and be a part of the Reggae Boyz because they know that we have the support of the JFF.”

On the other hand Venezuela, who are slated to oppose Peru next Tuesday, are hoping to build on a pair of recent victories over Honduras in matches involving domestic players only.

Head coach Noel Sanvincente, who tenure began with no wins and an embarrassing 5-0 routing of Chile in his first four games, has called on a full-strength team with players who ply their trade in places such as England, France, Italy, Switzerland, Holland, Spain, Mexico, China, Colombia, Russia, Thailand and China.

Like Schaefer, Sanvincente will be using these games as preparation for the Copa America.

Schaefer, the German who guided Cameroon to the 2002 African Cup of Nations title, plans on employing a 4-4-2 formation, though he readily admits that he wants his players to be dynamic enough to switch to a 3-5-2 or 4-3-3 formation, if the necessity arises.

Duwayne Kerr of Sarpsborg 08 in Norway will tend goal, backed by central defenders Wes Morgan (Leicester City, England) and Jermaine Taylor (Houston Dynamo, USA) with Kemar Lawrence (New York Red Bulls) and Adrian Mariappa (Crystal Palace, England) completing the defence. The midfield will be led by captain Rodolph Austin and Je-Vaughan Watson, flanked by Jobi McAnuff on the left and Garath McCleary on the right, with Giles Barnes of Houston Dynamo tipped to make his debut alongside Joel Grant of Yeovil Town in England or Darren Mattocks of Vancouver Whitecaps in Canada.

The coach said Daniel Gordon, of Karsruher SC in Germany, will get some playing time at some stage in the second half, after being granted a recall following several months in the wilderness.

Meanwhile, Sanvincente has a tendency to employ a 4-2-2-2 or a 4-2-3-1 formation, as he searches for his most balanced unit.

“My philosophy is that I want the players to talk about what they want and what they prefer in our tactical training sessions,” Schaefer explained. “It is not about what I want the team to do; they are the players and they need to talk about what they want, also,” he ended.

The Jamaican squad is completed by goalkeeper Peter Harrison of Arnett Gardens, Romeo Parkes, Hughan Gray, Dino Williams, Ricardo Morris and Owayne Gordon.