Jamaica to face Egypt in football friendly

Kingston (Jamaica), May 13 (IANS/CMC) The Jamaican football team will clash against Egypt a friendly in London early next month.

The match is scheduled for June 4 at the Matchroom Stadium and is the latest international friendly to be announced by the Jamaica Football Federation, as it continues its build up to the Caribbean Cup in November, reports CMC.

“Securing another high profile opponent is in keeping with our vision of preparing the team well to compete at the highest level. Egypt is a multiple-time African champion and is ranked highly by FIFA, so that will be a tough test for us,” JFF president Horace Burrell said.

“All these matches also represent the preparation phase of the upcoming Caribbean Cup, and we must prepare properly and I can’t think of a better way to prepare, especially with the added incentive of a possible place in the centennial 2016 edition of the Copa America.”

The clash with Egypt, comes on the heels of Jamaica meeting with Serbia May 26 in New Jersey, United States and another contest against Switzerland in Lucerne May 30.

Jamaica are also set to play 1998 World Cup champions France in Lille, four days following the Egypt assignment.

Captain Burrell said the upcoming fixtures would give Jamaica management a good chance to assess various players.

“This series of games will be tough and will present the coaching staff, led by Winfried Schaefer, with the opportunity to look at players in different conditions and match situations,” captain Burrell pointed out.

Egypt are ranked 24th in the latest FIFA Rankings and lie second in the African Confederation behind Cote d’Ivoire.

Jamaica, one of the powerhouses in Caribbean football, are ranked ninth in CONCACAF and third in the Caribbean Football Union, behind Trinidad and Tobago and Haiti.

They lie 81st in the FIFA World Rankings.