Having not won in four World Cup qualifying games, head coach Theodore Whitmore has admitted that the Reggae Boyz have an uphill task if they are to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Finals set for Brazil.

Jamaica are firmly rooted to the bottom of the CONCACAF Hexagonal group on two points from four games behind new leaders Mexico with six points from four games, following the only qualifier on Tuesday night.

Panama have slipped to second on five points ahead of Costa Rica, the USA and Honduras all on four points from just three games.

“Our backs are against the wall, but we are just one win away and I would prefer one win than two draws,” said Whitmore at the post-match press conference.

“We know it’s gonna be tough and we set out to play 10 tough games and I am very disappointed tonight, but we just have to be strong and look forward to the game on Friday night,” he added.

A 48th-minute header from Aldo De Nigris was enough to propel Mexico to their first win of the campaign and condemn a Jamaican team depleted by injuries to their second consecutive loss.

“I am very pleased with all the players tonight and not only Jermaine Hue, but a fairly new backline and I am pleased with the performance,” he noted.

With young Alvas Powell playing at right back being caught out of position allowing Carlos Salcido to pick out De Nigris, Whitmore was quizzed about the performance of the National Under-20 captain.

“I am very pleased with the performances of Alvas Powell and Woodbine (O’Brian) tonight. I think Alvas did a decent job and one of the problems was that Ryan Johnson was pressing too high up the park and that caused our midfield to lose shape,” Whitmore pointed out.

Jamaica needed to win to keep their slim chances alive of reaching only their second World Cup Finals since 1998, and playing at home the fans expected them to be more aggressive against a Mexican team looking a shadow of themselves.

Jamaica came out with a 4-5-1 formation, but were toothless upfront as lone striker Johnson rarely got support from a midfield that failed to add numbers in attack.

“I think we could have done more in the first half as at one point you could smell it coming. Just that little extra in the first half,” said Whitmore.

“The first half, based on the number of changes, I think we had a pretty decent game. The second half, when we came out we started a bit flat and then we conceded, and from that we tried to chase the game and we didn’t get back in the game.”

But the lack of support up front was not of the coach’s desire after bringing on Jermaine Beckford for Je-Vaughn Watson and Darren Mattocks for Johnson in the 63rd minute.

“I told Mattocks to play in a bit more and he chose to play wide… we kept sending the message to him and I think that was my only disappointment other than the result from the game tonight,” said Whitmore.

His disappointment was sheer joy for his counterpart, Jose Manuel De La Torre, who secured Mexico’s first win this year.

“The team has always been convinced of their capabilities. Sometimes the results don’t follow and this is what has been happening, so the most important thing today was getting the points and the team understanding how they were supposed to play,” said De La Torre via an interpreter.

“Today the result was good and we are happy and I hope we can keep on going the same way,” he added.

“We always know that Jamaica was very fast and could take us on counter-attacks at any moment, so we had to be careful at the back. Offensively I thought we could have taken more far shots and be more vertical, but overall we worked as planned,” he reiterated.

Mexico will next play Panama on Friday, while Jamaica will host the USA with Costa Rica taking on Honduras as CONCACAF qualifiers continue.

Teams: Jamaica – Donovan Ricketts (captain), Daniel Gordon, Adrian Mariappa, O’Brian Woodbine, Alvas Powell, Marvin Elliott, Rodolph Austin (Keammar Daley 76th), Je-Vaughn Watson (Jermaine Beckford 63rd), Garath McCleary, Jermaine Hue, Ryan Johnson (Darren Mattocks 63rd).

Booked: Powell (55th)

Subs not used: Dwayne Miller (GK), Andre Blake (GK), Adrian Reid, Montrose Phinn, Omar Daley, Evan Taylor, Damion Williams, Theo Robinson, Jermie Lynch

Mexico – Jesus Corona (GK), Javier Rodriquez (captain), Carlos Salcido, Diego Reyes, Gerardo Torrado, Pablo Barrera (Gerardo Flores 59th), Aldo De Nigris (Giovani Dos Santos 67th), Severo Meza, Javier Hernandez (Raul Jiminez 86th), Jesus Zavala, Andres Guardado

Booked: Rodriquez (85th)

Subs not used: Guillermo Ochoa (GK), Hector Herrera, Angel Reyna, Javier Aquino, Jorge Torres, Hector Moreno, Hiram Mier, Jesus Molina, Alfredo Talavera (GK)

Referee: Joel Antonio Aguilar Chicas (El Salvador)

Assistant Referee 1: William Torres Mejia (El Salvador)

Assistant Referee 2: Juan Zumba Galan (El Salvador)

Fourth Official: Elmer Bonilla Ruiz (El Salvador)

Referee Assessor: Livingston Bailey (Cayman Island)

Points Standings

Teams P W D L GF FA GD PTS HOME AWAY

Mexico 4 1 3 0 3 2 1 6 0-2-0 1-1-0

Panama 3 1 2 0 5 3 2 5 1-1-0 0-1-0

Costa Rica 3 1 1 1 4 3 1 4 1-0-0 0-1-1

Utd States 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 4 1-0-0 0-1-1

Honduras 3 1 1 1 4 5 -1 4 1-1-0 0-0-1

Jamaica 4 0 2 2 1 4 -3 2 0-1-1 0-1-1