If national senior men’s football team Head Coach Heimir Hallgrímsson expects to meet his objective of winning the Concacaf Gold Cup, he must get by Mexico in the semi-final this evening.

When the game kicks off at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada, at 7:00 pm (9:00 pm Jamaica time), the teams will know who they meet in the final as the other semi-final pits the USA against Panama. This game kicks off from Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, California, at 4:30 pm (6:30 pm Jamaica time).

Jamaica has been said by many pundits to possess the strongest squad in the tournament, but that quality will now be tested by opponents looking to win their ninth title.

But Hallgrímsson is wary of Mexico’s threat, having already faced them in a Concacaf Nation’s League game in Mexico City last March, which ended in a 2-2 draw. They have gone through significant changes since then, having replaced then-Head Coach Diego Cocca with interim Manager Jaime Lozano.

Hallgrímsson has paid attention to Lozano’s approach in this tournament so far and says he has a good understanding of their abilities.

“We know their strengths,” Hallgrímsson said in a pre-game press conference on Tuesday afternoon. “They’re a powerful team with high pressing, a lot of energy on the ball, a lot of off the ball, turn and running into spaces, so we need to be careful when playing them.”

Hallgrímsson said after Jamaica’s 1-0 win against Guatemala in the quarter-final on Sunday that Mexico will approach the game in a similar fashion to those opponents, in terms of transitioning from defence to attack, but he sees them as more dangerous. However, he would not share anything regarding countering their threat.

“Like I said after the Guatemala game, they are kind of the same football style, but they, of course, have better players playing at a higher level,” he said. “So it’s gonna be a tougher game with a higher pace than against Guatemala. We’ve gone over how we want to approach this game. We’ll do it again tonight at the last meeting. But how we’re gonna do it? You’re not gonna get that answer from me, sorry.”

That game against Guatemala took a lot from the Jamaicans. It was a physical match played in such heat it required a water break in each half and saw right back Javain Brown leave the field with an injury. Added to those issues is the matter of striker Cory Burke being suspended against Mexico for reaching a yellow card limit on Sunday.

Hallgrímsson says these factors made it challenging to prepare for this game but that the team – players and technical staff alike – were then forced to be professional in coping with these issues.

“The recovery is, of course, the biggest challenge when you have two days between matches – such important games as we have,” he said. “Plus we have a long flight [from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Las Vegas, Nevada] and a time difference to adjust to. So it’s a lot of things that need to happen within two days. That is the challenge.

“It was an intense game against Guatemala, too open for my taste – in the heat as well. It took a lot away from the players and there were a lot of tired legs. But now it’s about the professionalism of the staff and of the players. By discussion with them last night and this morning, everyone is ready to play and it would be strange if a player wouldn’t be ready to play a semi-final like this one. The challenge from the coach’s perspective is recovery.”

Captain and goalkeeper Andre Blake also attended the press conference and said the team has enough experience to cope with the short turnaround time for recovery.

“I’m pretty sure most of us, as professional players, would have been in situations like these before,” he said. “Obviously, we would’ve liked to have an extra day, but it is what it is and we know what we want. So we have to find a way to block out all distractions and just know that we’re willing to do whatever it takes to get something or to get somewhere.”

These teams have also met in high-stakes situations in recent tournaments. Jamaica finished runners-up to Mexico, going down 3-1 in the 2015 final.

They then met twice in the 2017 tournament, drawing 0-0 in Group C, but Kemar Lawrence scored a free kick to give the Reggae Boyz a 1-0 win in the subsequent semi-final. Jamaica then finished runners-up to the United States of America, losing 2-1.