Haitian football agent Miguel Trujillo believes Jamaica's Reggae Boyz could win this year's CONCACAF Gold Cup to be staged in the USA from July 3-26.
Jamaica's head coach John Barnes (left) and assistant, Theodore Whitmore.
Trujillo holds the view that Jamaica's overall talent level and the fact that many of the top teams of the confederation will be engaged in World Cup qualifiers present Jamaica "with a great chance of winning".
"I saw the way Jamaica played in the last set of games in the World Cup qualifiers... they proved that when they are at their best they are the team to beat. They were also very good in the Digicel Champions Cup which they won. This is a team with quality," said Trujillo from Florida yesterday.
He also noted that Jamaica will be a better team under the guidance of head coach John Barnes and assistant Theodore 'Tappa' Whitmore.
"He (Barnes) understands the players and knows the system to play to bring out the best in them. It's not like the Brazilian (Rene) Simoes; Barnes has a different approach," he noted.
El Salvador and Jamaica are in Group A of the Gold Cup, along with Canada and Costa Rica; Group B comprises Haiti, USA, Honduras and Grenada, while Group C has Panama, Guadeloupe, Mexico and Nicaragua.
Jamaica, ranked 70th by FIFA, will face Haiti (119th) in a highly-anticipated friendly international match-up at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on May 23, and Trujillo said Haiti will be fielding a strong team as both bragging rights and an opportunity to continue to fine-tune for the Gold Cup are at stake.
"We'll be coming with the best team for the game... we know Jamaica have very good players, so we're for our best," he said.
"Also, the game is very important as we prepare for the Gold Cup as we aim to make a good impression there," Trujillo added.
The Haitian, who runs the Florida-based sports agency firm Sponssports USA, said most of Haiti's foreign professionals will be available for the match.
He expects players plying their trade in Argentina, Greece and France to jet to Florida in time for the kick off and a weekend of celebration for Caribbean peoples.
And as Haiti step up preparation ahead of the Gold Cup, Trujillo disclosed that the French-speaking country has employed the services of two Colombian coaches - Jairo Rios and Jairo Ossa.
"They (coaches) have been working with the team over the past 15 days and that programme is going well," noted Trujillo.
He said the team has set a date with Panama on June 13 in Port-au-Prince and could visit Azerbaijan for another friendly on June 1.
Meanwhile, the Reggae Boyz will start a camp on May 18 for their three confirmed warm-up games before departing for the Gold Cup.
Apart from the Haiti encounter, the team has also secured games against El Salvador in Washington on May 30 and Panama at 'The Office' on June 7.
Haiti was the second Caribbean nation to go to the FIFA World Cup in 1972, while Jamaica was the first English-speaking country to make it to the big stage back in 1998. Cuba in 1938 was the first from the region to go to the World Cup, while Trinidad & Tobago did likewise in 2006.
Haiti and Jamaica first played each other in 1925 and their last meeting, according to eloratings.net, was back on October 1, 2006, where the Boyz were 2-0 winners at the National Stadium in a Digicel Caribbean Cup qualifier.
