MEXICO CITY - Mexico hosts Jamaica on Wednesday night in the final round opener of 2014 CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying for each. Though it is just the start of the Hexagnal process, the game -- which will be played at the fabled Estadio Azteca -- is considered crucial to each in their efforts to reach the finals next year in Brazil
El Tri is coming off a perfect semifinal campaign in which it took all 18 points on offer from six matches, advancing to the final round for the fifth consecutive time - every edition since the Hexagonal format was first used in qualifying for the 1998 World Cup.
Jamaica is back in the Hexagonal for the first time since 2001, after finishing second in Group B to the United States in the semifinal round.
The two sides have squared off ten times in World Cup Qualifying and 17 times overall in official matches, with the Mexicans winning 14 of those duels and Jamaica coming out on top just twice.
One of the Reggae Boyz's victories occurred in the last World Cup Qualifying meeting between the two. Ricardo Fuller scored the game's only goal in a 1-0 triumph on October 11, 2008, in Kingston.
The Jamaicans also won 1-0 at home in 1996, a game in which Theodore Whitmore - Jamaica's current head coach - played the full 90 minutes.
Despite a history that certainly favors Mexico, attacker Andres Guardado claims that Jamaican football has evolved in recent years, and deserves the respect of his high-flying team.
"They're no longer the type of team that simply kicks and looks for a strong tackle," said Guardado. "They've improved a lot in that regard."
To that end, Whitmore has called in 16 players based in Europe, along with four in the USA's Major League Soccer - just one more reason Guardado says El Tri should expect a hotly contested match in Mexico City.
"They're coming here looking forward to facing Mexico, like all the rivals we face who come here," the Valencia attacker said. "We're taking the challenge very seriously."
Mexico has not lost in its last 12 World Cup Qualifying encounters, while Jamaica is unbeaten in seven of its last nine.
