Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter

Lamey ... expected to start up front with Teafore Bennet. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer.

The Reggae Boyz will go for their first win since reaching the quarter-final round of last summer's CONCACAF Gold Cup when they take on Canada in a 3:00 p.m. friendly at the Complexe Sportif Claude Robillard in Montreal, Canada today.

The road has been a rocky one lately for the team which captured the attention of the world when it qualified for the 1998 World Cup.

With exception of a 1-1 draw with the United States in April, Jamaica have tumbled to embarrassing defeats in all their other recent friendlies. The Boyz, ranked 74th in the latest FIFA world rankings, went down 5-0 to Australia in October, 4-1 to Ghana in May and most recently were on the wrong end of a 6-0 pounding by World Cup quarter-finalist England in June at the Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester.

Turn Jamaica's fortunes around

Interim coach Carl Brown is expected to have a tough task if this game will turn Jamaica's fortunes around because the line-up which Jamaica will field for this international will lack potency. Eleven of the 18 players that will take part in the encounter are not only local based, but, with the exception of Jermaine Taylor, lack a great deal of international experience. This has been due to the fact that several players have had to be left out of the squad due to injury or club commitments. They include Jamaican captain Ricardo Gardener, Claude Davis, Luton Shelton, Jermaine Hue, Ricardo Fuller, Jason Euell and goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts.

However, the team's chances of doing well should be helped by the fact that the Canadian team, currently 82nd in the latest FIFA rankings, are also rebuilding under interim coach Stephen Hart and will not have their full complement of players either. But the Canadian line-up, though not full strength, will boast more experienced players than Jamaica as Tomasz Radzinski (Fulham, England) Julian de Guzman (Deportivo La Coruna, Spain), Paul Stalteri (Tottenham, England), and Josh Simpson (Kaiserslauten, Germany) are all available for the encounter.

Against Canada, Jamaica has a record of five losses, three draws and one win. In their last encounter on September 2, 1999 in Toronto, Canada won the friendly 1-0. The Canucks are unbeaten in their last three friendlies.

The teams will clash in a return leg on October 8 at the National Stadium.