KOBE, Japan — Kemal Malcolm, the former Arnett Gardens standout, is ready to fight for his spot in what is shaping up to be a competitive Reggae Boyz cohort. 

 With the Concacaf Gold Cup and World Cup qualifying tournament due this summer, the jostling match starts as players look to first catch the eye of the coach and then cement their spots. 

It won’t be easy for some as quality talent — both home-bred and foreign — have leapt onto the radar and have even thrown down the gauntlet. 

But don’t attempt to measure Malcolm decisively by his unimposing stature as within his frame lives the heart of a giant and a man prepared to fight vigorously for what he wants. 

He embraces, stout-heartedly, the challenge of securing his place in Head Coach Theodore “Tappa” Whitmore’s squad for the Concacaf Gold Cup and World Cup Qualifiers.  

 He’s a man on mission. 

“At the end of the day it boils down to performance and at this level it can only get better…when you have good players coming in, there is one thing on your mind, and that is to do well to keep your place in the team — and that’s normal, I just have to go out there and do my job,” said Malcolm with an air of confidence. 

The striker, who recently ended a productive season with El Salvadoran Primera Division outfit CD Chalatenango, says playing for Jamaica at the highest level is a lifetime dream. 

 Word of advice, never stand between a man and his dream. 

 “As a youngster my dream and goal were always to represent my country at the highest level. I played Under-20, Under-23 and now I am in the senior team.  

“Now, I have a great opportunity to showcase my talent and will try to impress the coach day by day. My dream is to be a part of the Gold Cup squad and the World Cup squad,” said the 29-year-old Malcolm. 

The former Waterhouse FC frontman says he plans to stamp his class on Jamaica’s two matches in Japan — firstly against Serbia on Monday and then Japan Olympic team on Saturday, June 12. 

  “I am here, and I am not on vacation, so hopefully I will get the chance to go out there and impact the games,” said Malcolm. 

 He said he was letdown by the cancelled match with Japan’s senior team, arguing that it would have “a very good test” for the Boyz. 

In El Salvador, Malcolm scored eight goals in 11 games, a credible performance by any measure. 

 “As I went there, I hit the ground running as I went there with one aim to make a good impression because it doesn’t make any sense to leave Jamaica and go there, and then people have to be asking, ‘where is Kemal Malcolm?’. I had one focus which is to get there and get the job done and that’s what I did,” he beamed. 

El Salvador, he said, was a teaching experience and opportunity to increase his stocks on the professional transfer market. 

“One of the reasons why I went there [El Salvador] is to do well and to open other doors. I can’t say much right now, but I have some good things in the pipeline based on the fact on what I did in El Salvador,” Malcolm added.