Jamaica's young Reggae Boyz will kick off their bid for a place in the youth World Cup in Egypt later this year, when they tackle the Stars and Stripes of the United States at the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Bacolet, Tobago, at 6 p.m. (Ja time) today.

It will be a tough way to kick off the tournament as the United States have qualified a record six times for the U-20 World Cup. Although this time without several big names, which has been a characteristic of their teams over the years, the team has been said to be a solid mix evenly split between domestic and foreign-based players.

However, the Jamaicans, perhaps one of the teams under the radar headed into the competition, have had some success against the United States before, and some members of the current team - Dever Orgill, John Ross-Doyle, Andre Steele and coach Donovan Duckie - will remember a memorable 3-2 win over the US at Under-17 World Cup qualifying final round two years ago.

Despite that fact, however, the Jamaicans failed to qualify and Duckie's troops, the last national team left in a World Cup qualifier, will be looking to better that mark.

Motivation

"Of course, they understand the pressure," Duckie said Sunday after the US drew 0-0 with Canada in a friendly.

"We've discussed the expectations. But the support they are getting now is more. It's a lot of motivation for them. More motivation than pressure," he said.

Shouldering a lot of the pressure up front will be one of the more experienced members of the team, Orgill, who with partner Alonzo Adlam have the lion's share of the team's goals, six and seven, respectively. However, the recruitment of the burly Leicester striker Reneil Sappleton, who impressed Duckie in a series of friendlies, will be a welcome addition up front.

The Jamaicans have had an impressive run of friendly results heading into the final round, which has included draws with Canada, Costa Rica and wins over Canada and Mexico, that have not gone unnoticed by USA coach Thomas Rongen.

"They don't have any weaknesses," Rongen said

"I think from what I have seen of Jamaica they have a variety of ways in which they can beat you,"

"Jamaica's pre-qualifying phase to get here, they had to go through some tough teams as well," he said.

Jamaica have been drawn in group A along with the USA, Honduras and El Salvador. Honduras will tackle El Salvador in the tournament's opening game.

The top two teams from each group will qualify for the Under-20 World Cup in Egypt later this year.