Paul-Andre Walker, Staff Reporter

JAMAICA'S YOUNG Reggae Boyz have the match of their lives ahead of them today when they play their last CFU Youth Championships quarter-final game against CONCACAF kingpins Mexico at the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Trinidad.

The 5:00 p.m. fixture is crucial to both teams which are still in with a chance of reaching the final of the competition.

Mexico are in a more comfortable position than Jamaica's under-17s, who have four points from their first two games, while their opponents have six.

Mexico beat Panama 2-1 before beating Canada by the same margin, while Jamaica had a comfortable 3-0 win over the Canadians, but faltered in a 1-1 draw with Panama.

According to Jamaica's coach, David Hunt, those results prove that the teams are close and though Mexico should provide a steep challenge, the Jamaicans are by no means out of their depth.

Competitive game

"It's going to be a competitive game, but if you look at the results you'll see that the teams are close, so it just depends on who executes on the day," said Hunt.

Both teams have scored four goals in the second round; however, the Jamaicans have only conceded one to Mexico's two, which might speak to better defensive capabilities on the part of the Jamaicans.

As a matter of fact, Hunt has indicated that his team has defended capably, which should make for an interesting battle against a team that is physically much bigger than the Jamaicans.

If the Jamaicans failed to find a victory against Mexico, it is likely that they will play in the third and fourth place play-off against the second-place finisher from Group A's quarter-finalists.

However, they also run the risk of not making it any further in the competition as Panama, who have one point from two games, could beat Canada and join the Young Reggae Boyz on four points, which would bring the decision of who has another game to play down to goal averages.

Thus, Jamaica have to make sure that today's game is competitive in scoreline, even if they are to lose.