LOS ANGELES, California — Demar Phillips, the fleet-footed left-sided player from Seaforth in St Thomas, carries an incurable itch whenever he’s to represent his beloved Reggae Boyz.

The 31-year-old, who now plies his trade closer to home with US MLS franchise Real Salt Lake after five years with Norway’s Aalesund, has got a new bout of the ‘scratches’ as he is set to figure in Jamaica’s CONCACAF Gold Cup quest.

“I am just happy that I have joined up with the national team again, and I am just looking forward to doing well,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

“Whenever I join the national team, or any team for that matter, I am always one who wants to do well,” he added.

Phillips may have missed Jamaica’s historic participa-tion in the 99-year-old Copa America in Chile recently, but he is taking that missed opportunity in stride, preferring instead to focus on the Gold Cup, a championship in which he has done well in the past.

“The last time I played in the Gold Cup I did really well and I left that tournament the best player for Jamaica, and that was like 2011. So I am here again to go out there and do what I do best, and that’s to go and perform. And I am sure all the other players have come here to do their best as well,” said Phillips.

In 2011, the last time Jamaica showed up for the confederation’s top championship, Phillips was part of a team that went to the quarter-finals after a perfect record at the group stage. Jamaica eventually lost to the USA 0-2.

When the Boyz take the field tomorrow against Costa Rica, a team with their tails in the air after a historic quarter-final finish in Brazil 2014, Phillips believes the Central Americans will be dangerous opposition.

“As you know, Costa Rica has a good team, and I watched them in the World Cup and they did very well, and some of the players I know personally, like (Alvaro) Saborio, who is a good striker. But, at the end of the day, we have to just go out there and play our game,” he said.

Looking back at not being able to have been a part of the Copa America team, Phillips, who had a short stint in England with Stoke City, said his unavailability was for a very good reason.

“Of course, I would have loved to be a part of that tournament, and I was supposed to have been a part of that squad as I was called up for it and the Gold Cup, but there was an issue with the club with so many injuries and players leaving, so they actually came to a conclusion with the national coach, the national staff, and it was decided that I would play one tournament.

“But, that’s life, sometimes we have to give and take, so I decided that we had enough players in the national team, so I pulled back from that tournament (Copa America); so I here am I.”

Phillips, a former star at local club Waterhouse FC, said he was proud of what his teammates demonstrated in Chile, even though they lost all three group games against Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina by the identical 0-1 margin.

“I think the team did well in Copa America, although unfortunately the team did not win any games. So right now I am just looking forward to the Gold Cup,” he noted.

Phillips says he is enjoying life at his new club Real Salt Lake, also the team of former Jamaica international Lovel Palmer.

“So far everything is really good… I am happy and I am in a good team with a good programme, and everyone has welcomed me there. And as long as I am fit, I am playing,” he outlined.

After kick-starting their Group B campaign tomorrow at 5:00 pm (7:00 pm Jamaica time), the Boyz will then face Canada on Saturday in Houston, Texas, before closing out the preliminary stage against El Salvador in Toronto, Canada, next week Tuesday.

The Gold Cup gets underway today with a sold-out double-header in Frisco, Texas, where Panama meet Haiti and hosts USA face Honduras in Group A.