MONTEGO BAY, St James — No one can genuinely question the heart and commitment of Demar Phillips whenever he puts on a Jamaica shirt.

And this writer would venture to say that few people, if any at all, in the town of Aalesund in Norway where the St Thomas native has plied his trade for the past five years could cast any doubt on his lion-hearted nature.

But Phillips has always given his all whenever he goes on the football pitch, and one local club, Waterhouse, lost a gem when the speedy left-sided player moved to Stoke City in England.

The 31-year-old is again in a Jamaica shirt after a short spell out of it, and again, he is expected to give it his best as Jamaica seek to capture the CFU Caribbean Cup now underway in the country’s north coast tourist mecca, Montego Bay.

“The last game I played was against Switzerland and it is always a source of pride whenever I put my national team shirt on and I am looking forward to representing my country once again and to just go out there and do my best,” said Phillips.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a friendly or a tournament, I will always go out there and do my best all the times… I am here to help my teammates and to help the team,” he added.

And in many cases, Phillips’ best has been enough as he has had many match-winning performances and moments for the Reggae Boyz in some 62 appearances.

He said hosting the regional championship brings added pressure on the team because nothing less than a win won’t appease fans, who are hungry for success after the senior Boyz, under head coach Winfried Schaefer, have gone a lengthy spell without the taste of victory.

As a result of those unfavourable results, albeit against vastly superior opponents in some cases, Jamaica have plummeted in the FIFA rankings and presently sit at a lowly 113th.

That, Phillips thinks, must change and quickly.

“This tournament is very important for us as a country as we are in a very difficult position in the FIFA rankings, which is really bad…so the tournament takes on added importance, plus we are the host and everybody (players) is looking forward to going out there and having a good tournament and hopefully we can go on and win it,” said the 5ft 6in left winger.

But he knows that for Jamaica to be crowned champions for the region once again, it will come at great sacrifice of commitment, discipline and a serious desire to win.

Phillips also puts it on the table that apart from the fact that all eight teams in Jamaica have come with very strong squads, the enduring Caribbean rivalry in itself is a motivation for a lot of teams who have a fixation on beating Jamaica. With that, the York, St Thomas native warned there will be no easy games.

“Whenever we play against Caribbean teams, it’s always difficult for us because all of them want to beat Jamaica, and it will be no different now.

“I know it’s going to be tough, but we just have to go out there each game and do what we have to do and win games and hopefully get into the final,” he said.

Jamaica were due to open their campaign against a “strong” Martinique side, which included a number of France-based professionals at the Montego Bay Sports Complex last night, and Phillips was named a starter in that line-up.

They will then play their next Group B match against Antigua and Barbuda tomorrow, and then close out the preliminary phase of the eight-day tournament with a showdown against rivals Haiti on Sunday.

Group A of the tournament is being contested by Trinidad and Tobago, Curacao, defending champions Cuba and French Guiana.

On the professional front, Phillips, popularly called ‘Peel Head’, said he was satisfied with his season with Aalesund, who he said finished strongly after a slow start to the Norwegian top league.

“The last few months the team has done well as we finished sixth in the league, but early in the season we were struggling, but it got better and we won the last game… From my end, it’s been very positive,” he told the Jamaica Observer following a training session at the Half Moon Hotel located near Montego Bay on Tuesday.

But Phillips, not wanting to give too much away, disclosed that a move to another club in Europe may be on the cards for the January transfer window.

“Maybe I will make a change soon; something is happening but nothing has been finalised yet,” was all he was prepared to share.

Demar Phillips jogs during Tuesday’s training session at the Half Moon Hotel located near Montego Bay. (PHOTO: PAUL REID)