WHILE interim Reggae Boyz Head Coach Paul Hall is under no illusions that their first-leg Concacaf Nations League Group A contest against Mexico will be easy, he knows, too, that the opponents are not infallible and is backing his troops to come up trumps at the National Stadium on this occasion.

Kick-off is 7:00 pm.

Mexico, a traditional powerhouse in Concacaf guided by former Barcelona and Argentina head coach Gerardo Martino, will start the encounter as favourites, but Hall is confident that his team possesses the ability to pull off an upset.

Their previous meeting at the “office” during the World Cup qualifiers ended 2-1 in favour of the Mexicans, who capitalised on numerical advantage with a late goal after Damion Lowe was red-carded on the stroke of half time.

Mexico also won their home leg of the qualifiers 2-1, also with a late goal. Jamaica’s last win against Mexico — a 1-0 scoreline — was in 2017 at the Gold Cup.

“The players are committed to the cause of trying to beat this team. I think the last time we played them we were literally minutes away from a victory and it was a very committed performance and the Boyz showed great resilience.

“I’m looking for the same performance, looking to keep 11 players on the pitch as much as possible and I think once we do that, we will have a great chance of beating a very good Meixcan side with a lot of history, but we want to ensure that we change that history tomorrow (today),” Hall told reporters during a virtual press conference on Monday.

“I’ve watched Mexico about four times [and] we’ve got to really get at them in areas where we believe they are weak and really try and stop them from getting into the offensive areas where we know they are strong, so it’s going to be a game of will. We have a plan for Mexico but it’s really important that we go out there and execute accordingly,” he added.

The Boyz currently occupy pole position in the three-team team League A group on four points, one ahead of the Mexicans, who hammered Suriname 3-0 on Saturday.

Though already sure of one of the two spots to the next Concacaf Gold Cup, Hall believes it is important for his team — ranked 64th, according to Fifa rankings, and sixth in Concacaf — to maintain their unbeaten record and close this international window on a high ahead of next year’s return leg in Mexico.

Mexico, the confederations number one ranked team, are positioned at number nine on the Fifa rankings.

“The players know what is expected. If you noticed that in the last game we were so close, and I feel we are getting closer to Mexico and closer to beating them, so it’s important that we keep everybody on the pitch. We will kick ourselves if the same thing happens again because I really believe 11 players from Jamaica can beat 11 players from Mexico on home soil, and then we take that form into next year,” Hall said.

“But we need to improve in the wide areas and we need to improve our ruthlessness in front of goal. We are at home and we have some really good players, who when they are on their game, they can beat a team and really make a statement. It’s important that we show that right from the word go, make it uncomfortable for a [Mexican] team that we know is good, but we know that they are beatable,” he noted.

Given the team’s performance in a 3-1 win over Suriname amidst the off field chaos surrounding Dalton Wint’s reluctance to resign from the general secretary post last week, Hall is expecting the break and tranquility to serve his team even better for this encounter.

“Yes, the soul is calm; I think it is important that off the field you are looking forward to the game. We want to have an open and peaceful mind going into the game and it’s really important for them to put on a performance.

“They did last week and I’m expecting them to do so again this week. I want Mexico and all the teams to look at us and fear us; that’s a dream of mine. So it is a very good feeling but you have got to back that up with the performance. They can play well when there is chaos going on, but I want it to be calm,” the tactician stated.

With Jamal Lowe unavailable for this encounter, Leon Bailey is expected to reclaim his spot in the starting line-up to accompany Ravel Morrison and Junior Flemmings behind striker Shamar Nicholson.

Captain Andre Blake also makes a return from illness and is expected to be between the sticks shadowed by Damion Lowe and Jamoi Topey, who could be flanked by Javain Brown and Amari Bell.

Kavon Lambert and Devon Williams could be assigned holding midfield duties.

Meanwhile, Hall, who welcomed the crowd support last week, is urging fans to again turn out and show love to the Boyz for this tough fixture.

“The fans are the 12th person and the players really reacted to that; again, it feels so good to have the support of the public and knowing that everybody is putting Jamaica first and that’s the key: we have to put Jamaica’s football first,” he said.

“So it was very good and we want the fans to come out again; make it for Mexico how it will be for us next year when we play them away. Really make them uncomfortable with our support and we will hope we make sure of that with a good performance,” Hall ended.