Donovan Duckie - File

Donovan Duckie, head coach of the Jamaica's Under-20 football team, said he expects Haiti to be their toughest opponent in the final round of the Caribbean Football Union World Cup qualifiers, which begins in St Vincent and the Grenadines tomorrow.

The Young Reggae Boyz, who left the island yesterday, will open their campaign against the Haitians in the first match of their round-robin fixtures tomorrow.

"I know that Haiti's Under-17 players have made the transition to the Under-20 team and they have been to the last World Cup and I believe that they are going to be our toughest game," said Duckie, while adding that they were focused and ready to win this tournament.

Preparing for months

"We don't know much about Dominican Republic and St Vincent and the Grenadines. However, we have been preparing for months now and we have also been working on a variety of stuff," he said.

The winner of the Caribbean final round will earn an automatic berth to the CONCACAF Finals in Trinidad and Tobago.

The teams that have already qualified include the hosts, Canada, Mexico, the United States, Costa Rica and El Salvador.

The final place in the eight-team championship will be determined in a play-off between the Caribbean runners-up and Honduras.

"I don't think we are the favourites because I think our opportunity is as equal as all the other teams and we all have the same chance of advancing to the next round," he said.

Duckie added that they have played eight games leading into this phase and they have only conceded one goal, which came from the penalty spot.

"We are looking at a team effort because the guys have been working well and I think it is going to take a collective effort to pull us through. I know that there are some experienced players here that play in the National Premier League and I believe it's a well-balanced team," he noted.

Final training session

The Young Reggae Boyz had their final training session in Jamaica on Tuesday night at Winchester Park, St George's College, and Duckie said he was satisfied with the workout.

"We are pleased with the effort that we got from them. I think that the tactical discipline was very good because we did some organisational work in our defence and offence and we also did some transitional work," he said.

The Jamaicans are in pursuit of a berth in their second Under-20 World Cup Finals, having qualified in 2001 for Argentina.

Delegation: Bruce Gaynor - Head of Delegation, Patrick Walters - coordinator, Donovan Duckie - coach, Lenworth Hyde Sr - coach, Roy Simpson - manager, Dr Carlton Fraser - team doctor.

Players: Romario Campbell, Andre Blake, Theo Brown, Andre Darby, Alonzo Adlam, Andre Campbell, Kadian Wynter, Levaughn Williams, Dennis Taylor, Andre Steele, Keithy Simpson, Christopher Banner, McKauly Tulloch, Evan Taylor, Davian Thorpe, Dever Orgill, Robert Palmer, Lynval Wilson, Kemal Malcolm, Shamar Shelton.