Jamaica's Under-20 head coach, Donavan Duckie, said he would be making a number of changes to his team for today's second friendly international against Costa Rica, which is set to kick off at Brancourt, Clarendon, starting at 3:30 p.m.

The Jamaicans were held to a 0-0 draw by the Costa Ricans in the opening game of their two-match series at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex on Thursday.

"We are going to rotate our players for this game, because at the end of these games," said Duckie, "we will be looking for a final 20 to play against Canada in another friendly match.

"I think that this level of competitiveness is what we want ... because Costa Rica is a good team and we are grateful for these games against them," he added.

junior players

The junior Reggae Boyz were without their two starting strikers - Alanzo Adlam and Dever Orgill - for Thursday's game. Adlam is nursing a shoulder injury, while Orgill is unavailable because of club commitments in Canada.

Jamaica began the game looking the better team and in the 20th minute, striker André Clennon received a through pass from Romario Campbell. But his effort was weak and wide of the target.

A few minutes later, Jamaica's custodian Gariece McPherson had to dive full stretch to his left to deny Costa Rica's Christian Gamboa.

On the stroke of half time, Clennon's clear header on goal was tipped over the crossbar by Mainor.

The Costa Ricans came out in the second period much more purposeful, as they kept the Jamaicans chasing the ball with their quick passing and off-the-ball movements. They went close to scoring in the 55th minute, when striker Diego Astride, powerful right-footed hit the crossbar.

various objectives

"We set out some objectives and I thought that we made some of them. It is important to win because you build your reputation on winning, but today (Thursday) we wanted to look at the defensive aspect," Duckie pointed out.

"I thought we did good defensively, but our transition was a bit off because we should have supported our strikers with more speed. However, I also thought that the Costa Ricans did well," he said.

Both teams are using the matches as part of their preparation for the final round of the World Cup qualifiers, which will be held in Trinidad and Tobago from March 6-15 at the Dwight Yorke Stadium.

The Jamaicans are drawn in Group B with the United States, El Salvador and the winners of the play-off between Honduras and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Costa Rica will contest Group A alongside Mexico, Canada and the hosts.

The top two teams from each group will automatically qualify for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup Finals in Egypt, which runs from September 25 to October 16 this year.