Stand-in Head Coach Merron Gordon says his Reggae Boyz squad is in what he describes as fair condition ahead of their game against Morocco this morning.

The Reggae Boyz face the North Africans at 10:00 am (Jamaica time) in a four-team tournament being hosted by Qatar in Vienna, Austria.

Gordon says that although the team is not ideally where he wants it, in terms of fitness and conditioning, they have to now look past that.

“Their fitness is not where you want them to be to play an international game, but we have to stop concentrating on that and and see how best we can move forward with the team tactically [and] how we can approach the game, being that we’re not as fit as possible,” Gordon said on Monday.

“The boys are doing really well. They worked really hard in Jamaica for about eight days and since we’ve been here, they’ve been working as well.”

The 30-man squad consists of a large number of players who ply their trade in the Jamaica Premier League, many of whom have never even played international football. But Gordon is relying on the more experienced players in the camp to guide the debutants through the game.

“Since Adrian Mariappa came in, it’s been going even better,” he said. “International football is about tactical communication and that much we knew he would give, especially from the back. We have Amal [Knight], who has some amount of experience; Fabion McCarthy too. The boys are trying their best, and playing international football is about how sound you are defensively, more than anything else.”

Little is known about the side Morocco put out against Qatar on Saturday as the game was played behind closed doors. This is because Qatar wants to keep its preparations as secretive as possible, heading into the Fifa World Cup which they will not only play as debutants, but also as hosts. However, the teams drew 2-2 with Yahya Jubran and Mahdi Obila scoring for Morocco.

They are also being led by an interim head coach as Vahid Halilhodžić was fired by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation earlier this month over differences in ideas. These factors compound scouting for Gordon, who has described this tournament as “quite tricky”.

“Sometimes, you’re not sure of the players that this country is going to use, even though they might release a roster,” he said. “But because it’s outside the [international] window, it’s a bit tricky. A coach might be looking at a few players because he might have a few positions to fill before the World Cup. But Morocco is a team that always tries to possess the ball. For people who try to possess the ball, you have to try to be as organised as you can against them, also when you catch them in tight areas, you have to try and press them as much as you can.”

Whether the Reggae Boyz are capable of playing in that way remains to be seen, but Gordon says they have been drilled accordingly.

“I think the technical staff has done as much as we could to prepare this team to play against these countries,” he said. “The players are really trying their best, so let’s see what this game may bring.”

With their game on August 20 cancelled because Ghana arrived in Austria too late, organisers tried to schedule a practice game for the Reggae Boyz ahead of Morocco, but it was not to be as referees, ambulances, and other logistics could not have been arranged in time.

But Gordon is still trying to make the most of this tournament. He says that it is at a different level from what most of the squad is used to, but hopes it will prepare them for future international assignments, and also for playing in professional clubs overseas, should any such opportunity present itself.