ST THOMAS, US Virgin Islands — Jamaica’s Under-17 Reggae Boyz will begin their World Cup quest today when they tackle Guyana in their opening Group Four game of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) preliminary play-offs at the Lionel Roberts Stadium in St Thomas, US Virgin Islands.

Match time is 2:30 pm (1:30 pm Jamaica time).

The Jamaica-Guyana affair is the curtain-raiser for the other group game between hosts US Virgin Islands and Antigua and Barbuda, set to get underway at 5:00 pm (4:00 pm Jamaica time).

The Young Boyz will then face Antigua on Sunday before closing out their campaign against the hosts on Tuesday.

With the failure of the Under-20 Boyz at this very stage of their qualifiers last month, a fresh reminder of what can possibly go wrong against opponents perceived to be minnows, the Young Boyz will not be taking anything for granted starting with today’s game.

Andrew Edwards, the Jamaican coach, says while his team intends to get maximum points to jumpstart their tournament, the approach to the opening game will be a mixture of caution, respect and sensible football.

“We want to start the game with caution and respect for the opposition, but we want to exude confidence and go at them when the opportunities present themselves, and at the same time we want to be solid and safe in defence,” he said.

“Our objective is to have that perfect start with a win… a win in the first game would always set us up nicely in the tournament and would release a lot of the pressure and tension within the team. But if we can’t win it, we are definitely not giving away our one point that we will start with,” Edwards added.

He admits that little is known about today’s opponents, but argues that once Jamaica focus on what is required, the dice could roll favourably for them.

“We know very little about the Guyanese team and we know nothing about their players. We only know that they seem to have got off to a late start in putting their team together and that they have been plagued with one problem after another, if their local media is to be believed.

“That being said ,we won’t be focused on them, but more on our preparation and performance and that is what we want to focus on,” Edwards told the

Jamaica Observer.

The coach is satisfied that his squad of 20 players — two goalkeepers, seven defenders, five midfielders and six strikers — represent balance in the way they will execute the games.

“Our team is a balanced team, one which will attack as a team and will defend as a team. Yes, we have a number of forwards on the register, but that does not dictate how we play…the need for strikers is always evident, and we want them to play well in defence and more so in offence,” Edwards explained.

A teacher by profession, Edwards has described this bunch of players as a “very bright group” of leaders of varying quality.

“We have a very bright group of youngsters who have been responding very well to instructions throughout the campaign so far; they have been receptive to information, so we are not concerned about that at all.

“In terms of leadership on the field, we do have people who lead by virtue of their performances, but we still have some concerns about leadership, especially when things are not going well, but that’s a work in progress and I am certain that we will get it right eventually,” Edwards noted.

At press time, the tactician was not prepared to name a starting eleven, offering that he remains undecided with two positions — a midfielder and a forward — in a 4-3-3 formation.

In their first training session yesterday at the match venue, since arriving here on Wednesday, Edwards said he was largely happy with how the players responded to instructions.

“Most of them responded well and only a few didn’t show concentration through the entire session,” he noted.

“The session was also about getting the players familiar with the facility and also we refreshed tactics… also we looked at the technical efficiency and had a look at their overall state of readiness for the game,” Edwards concluded.

Only the winners of the six qualifying groups and the best overall second- place team will advance to the eight-team Caribbean finals, where they will join hosts Trinidad and Tobago for the September 16-25 CFU finals.

The top five will advance to the CONCACAF Under-17 Men’s Championship slated for Panama in April next year. The FIFA Under-17 Men’s World Cup will be staged in India next summer.

Jamaica has qualified teams to two Under-17 men’s FIFA World Cups — New Zealand in 1999 and Mexico in 2011.

Squad: Goalkeepers— Daniel Russell (Holmwood Tech/Hill Stars), Tajay Griffiths (Innswood High/Royal Lakes); defenders: Kendall Edwards (Parkview High/Atlanta, USA), Romario McPherson (Bridgeport High/Edgewater FC), Jamoi Topey (Camperdown High/Portmore United), Nickache Murray (Wolmer’s Boys’/Cavalier SC), Jordan Petrekin (Kingston College/Real Mona), Blake White (Home Schooled, Florida, USA), Calwayne Allen (St James High/Irwin United); midfielders: Jeremy Verley (St George’s College), Omar Thompson (Kingston College/Cavalier SC), Kimmani Gibbons (St Jago High/Portmore United), Casseam Priestley (Kingston College/Santos SC), Damani Osei (Cosby High School, USA); forwards: Khaeem Parris (Dinthill Tech/Cavalier SC), Cobi Atkinson (American Heritage, Florida, USA), Raewin Senior (Excelsior High School/Portmore United), Renato Campbell (Kingston College/Harbour View FC), Thriston Briscoe (Babylon School, NY, USA), Chad Letts (YSC Academy, Philadelphia, USA).