SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) has secured another high-profile friendly international football game as the Reggae Boyz are slated to face Chile on May 27 in that South American country.

However, the venue and time are yet to be finalised, even as the JFF President Captain Horace Burrell made the announcement here at the Real Intercontinental Hotel yesterday.

“I have just confirmed the participation of the Reggae Boyz in a big friendly international prior to the Copa Centennial Cup, and this is against the reigning Copa America champions Chile who are currently ranked number five on the FIFA world list,” declared Burrell.

He added: “They had the option and they chose Jamaica because they believe that Jamaica play a brand of football which will help them better prepare for the Copa Centennial Cup in the United States between June 3-26.”

The Copa Centenario will see all 10 South American teams, plus the six top teams from CONCACAF, including Jamaica, USA, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, and Haiti taking part in this one-off tournament.

“I’m very happy that I have been able to conclude on this; we have been negotiating for a number of months and we are just now confirming that most of the arrangements are now in place. The city is yet to be confirmed, but it is going to be definitely in Chile as it is going to be the send-off game for the Chilean team as they head off for the US to contest the Copa Centennial Cup,” noted the JFF boss.

Burrell revealed that the Jamaican team will assemble in Chile for the game and that it has come at an opportune time for Head Coach Winfried Schaefer to begin preparing his team for the Copa Centenario, where the Boyz will oppose Venezuela, Mexico and Uruguay in the preliminary stage.

The JFF boss also revealed that there is a possibility that the Boyz could be asked to play a second friendly international game in the USA on May 30, six days before they bow into Copa Centenario action on June 5 at Soldier Field, Chicago, against Venezuela.

“There is a possibility of a second game in the United States, but I wouldn’t want to say much more on this at the moment as no contract has yet been signed,” the JFF boss ended.

­— Ian Burnett