ATLANTA, USA — Jobi McAnuff, a recognised leader and consistent performer on the field of play, thinks his Reggae Boyz have a lot going for them when they face the USA in the CONCACAF Gold Cup semi-final tomorrow.

The Leyton Orient midfielder, who has distinguished himself at different locations in the Jamaica midfield, says the confidence within the group is so high that victory is achievable.

“We fancy our chances against anybody at the moment, obviously… the pressure may be more on them (the USA), given our recent results and where we were the slight favourites today (against Haiti),” said the Leyton Orient man.

“Obviously that (Jamaica’s good run) will trouble anybody and we can’t wait to get in the game.”

McAnuff, 33, said while Jamaica have lost two key players in defenders Jermaine Taylor and Demar Phillips, as well as the infamous walkout by Alvas Powell, Jamaica’s resolve has been steely nonetheless.

“The spirit is great, but we have had some setbacks along the way, but we have responded in the right way,” he said after Jamaica’s 1-0 quarter-final win over Haiti on Saturday night in Baltimore.

“Obviously that’s something (losing players) you have to deal with in a competition like this, but everybody who came in did well. I am happy for Joel Grant as he didn’t get any playing time in the Copa America, but he has been hungry, working hard in training, has looked sharp,” said the ex-Watford man.

McAnuff endorsed the idea that a testament to the depth of the squad can be demonstrated when players from the bench come in and maintain the tactical discipline.

“The guys who came in the past couple of games did well, and this shows that we are going to need everybody to go as far as we can go in this tournament,” he noted.

McAnuff, the former Reading FC man who has played 189 matches for the club over a four-year period, said he enjoys playing in the midfield, and wherever the coach needs him on a particular day, he is ready.

In Saturday’s game, where he was deemed man of the match, he was pushed to the centre of midfield in place of the suspended Watson, and again McAnuff was on top of his game.

“I like it in there man and I had a lot of movement… and saw a bit more of the ball than when I am out on the wing,” he told Jamaican reporters on Saturday.

In earlier matches, McAnuff played on the left side of midfield and was effective, linking up creditably with left back Kemar Lawrence, who himself has come to bloom in the tournament.

Looking back at the Haiti game, which was deemed one of, if not, the most testing fixture to date, McAnuff said keeping a clean sheet and winning the game is something the lads can be proud of.

“Obviously it’s about winning the game, and it was a tough game and Haiti played very well… we all stuck together and we have three clean sheets in a row, and we have been very solid.

“We had some chances to kill the game off, but we didn’t take them and we made it harder for ourselves. But we did the main thing and that was to win the game,” he expressed.

— Sean Williams