By Nodley Wright, Staff Reporter 
Lawrence (left) and Gardner (right)
THOUGH REVENGE is not a word often used by technical director Carl Brown, one suspects that it will be foremost in his mind when the Reggae Boyz host Cuba at "the Office" today at 6:00 p.m.
Cuba were one of the teams to cause Brown much heartache earlier in the year. In March they played to a 0-0 draw and were beaten 1-0 by the Cubans in Cuba. Those results followed a less than happy trip to the eastern Caribbean which placed a lot of pressure on Brown.
Subsequently, the team regained its form and qualified unbeaten for the Gold Cup with a victory over St. Lucia, a draw with Martinique and a win over Haiti to advance. Cuba have also come up with good performances since then as they qualified for the Gold Cup ahead of Trinidad and Tobago.
In their most recent game, the Reggae Boyz beat Nigeria 3-2 with goals from Onandi Lowe, Jermaine Johnson and Andy Williams. Most recently, Cuba lost two friendly internationals to Panama 2-0 and 1-0 on June 27 and 29 respectively in that country.
Brown is still expecting a tough game from the Cubans, coached by Miguel Company. "I believe that we will see a better Cuban team this time around," said Brown.
"The Cubans have always been aggressive and that is what we expect from them. They will be aggressive right from the opening whistle and their physical strength is what beat us the last time," he said.
To counter the strengths of the Cuban team, Brown will partner the action man, Jamie Lawrence, in central midfield with Richard Langley who will play his first international game on home soil. Both players do a lot of work on both attack and defence.
They, Brown said, would provide the stability for Ricardo Gardner and Theodore Whitmore or Omar Daley to attack. Whitmore is the preferred choice but he could be rested to allow a slight injury time to heal.
"I believe we will be able to match them in that (physical) area and with some better quality passes we should be able to beat them," Brown offered.
While expressing confidence, Brown said that he will be taking nothing for granted. The fact that Jamaica beat Cuba 3-0 the last time both teams met at the National Stadium will be of little significance this time around.
"The last time we played here we beat them 3-0 but this is a different team."
Cuba, he said, were a "football power in the Caribbean".
"If one looks at their programme one will see. The last time we visited Cuba their training centre was in operation and they have a good complex. Everything was literally at a Stadium with fields and so forth and I believe infrastructure-wise they are ahead of us."
In terms of natural ability and the capacity to draw on the services of overseas-based professionals, Jamaica are ahead of the Cubans.
Jamaica can call up Jamie Lawrence, Langley, Michael Johnson, Darren Byfield, Onandi Lowe, Ricardo Gardner and Belgium-based Keith Kelly.
Cuba have to rely on home-based players such as the hard-running Maikel Galindo, Lester More, Livan Perez, Alexander Cruzata and Odelin Molina.
Possible teams: Jamaica - Aaron Lawrence, Claude Davis, Marco McDonald, Gerald Neil, Michael Johnson, Jamie Lawrence, Richard Langley, Ricardo Gardner, Theodore Whitmore or Omar Daley, Onandi Lowe and Darren Byfield.
Cuba - Odelin Molina, Pedro A Place Hernandez, Alexander Cruzata, Silvio Pedro Minoso, Reizander Fernandez, Jaime Colombe Valencia, Jeniel Marquez, Jorge Ramirez, Livan Perez, Maikel Galindo Castaneda, Lester More.
