Back Row (left to right) -Donovan Ricketts, Claude Davis, Ricardo Fuller, Tyrone Marshall, Luton Shelton and Ian Goodison. Front Row - Ricardo Gardner, Jamal Campbell-Ryce, Demar Phillips, Rodolph Austin and Marlon King.

The Cayman Islands National Football Senior Men’s team has started serious training preparations for two friendly games against Jamaica’s National Senior team later this month, as the team prepares for the prestigious Gold Cup competition, which starts in July.

The Cayman Islands national team, who had their last real competition in October last year in the second stage of the Digicel Caribbean Cup when they were knocked out of the finals in the “Group of Death” in Guadeloupe, will face the Reggae Boyz on Sunday 28 June.

This game will be played after the game on Thursday 25 June when a “Cayman Select” team will do battle with the Reggae Boyz as a warm-up game for the big day on Sunday.

Both games will be played at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex.

The Reggae Boys, guided by Head Coach Theodore Whitmore after the exit of former Liverpool and England National winger, John Barnes, will be on island from 23 June until 29 June, after which they will leave the Island for the Gold Cup competition in Florida.

The players invited to training by Director of the National Program Carl Brown are: Ramoon Sealy, Dexter Benliss, Joseph Tatum, Mario Dinall, (Goal Keepers) Abijah Rivers, Nicholas Ebanks, Jason Ebanks, Jairo Sanchez, Calvin Jefford, Renee Carter, Dave McLaughlin, Hank Parchment, Donovan Godet, Phillip Berry, Benjamin Cupid, Ian Lindo, Tex Whitelock, Justin Pierre, Leighton Elliott, Donald Solomon, John Kelly, O’Niel Taylor, Lorenzo Brown, Mark Ebanks, Andrew McFarlane, Paul Brown, Theron Wood, Eric Brown, Richard Grant, Tevan Levien, and Stephen Tatum from Cayman Brac.

These players will form the core of the squad from which the team will be selected to face their tough opponents.

This will be just the beginning of a series of games which will be played to keep the nucleus of the national team prepared for future international competitions.

The Cayman Islands Football Association (CIFA) is determined to take football to the next level in the Cayman Islands with the opening of the National Centre For Excellence. The new “ Home of CIFA” is just a glimpse of what is to come in the future as President of CIFA, Jeffrey Webb, continues to forge ahead in the interest of football for the Islands.

The Reggae Boyz were last here in November of 2008 when they defeated Cayman 2-0 after the passing of Hurricane Paloma, in a keenly contested game.

With the caliber of games played during the last football season, it is expected that Cayman will be putting up another desperate attempt to conquer this prominent team.