Johan Vasquez is ready to face Jamaica for the first time

Posted : 12 July 2023

The national teams of Mexico and Jamaica have played each other often during the past two years. El Tricolor and the Reggae Boyz have faced off four times since the Final Round of Concacaf World Cup Qualifying for Qatar 2022 began in September 2021.

In 2022–23 Concacaf Nations League A, the countries swapped draws while Mexico won both games in WCQ by a score of 2-1.

One of the peculiarities of that four-match stretch was that Mexico DF Johan Vasquez did not play in any of the games, depriving the brilliant 24-year-old centre back of an opportunity to gauge his abilities against Jamaica's illustrious offensive power early in his young, developing career.
Wednesday night's 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup match between Vasquez and Mexico and Jamaica has the potential to change that. The former Monterrey and Pumas player is ready to face the Caribbean superpowers for the first time.

“It’s a little weird. Since I’ve been with the national team, we’ve played four times against Jamaica, but I’ve never had a chance. I’ve always been on the bench, but from there you can see that their players are very fast,” said Vasquez

“In the last game this past March they counterattacked us several times, one of which ended up in a great goal from their striker, so tomorrow we have to be aware that it won’t be an easy game. They are players of great stature and are in Europe, several of them in England. They are players who if you give them a little bit of room, they’ll hurt you,” added Vasquez.

Vasquez, under interim coach Jaime Lozano, has excelled in Mexico's setup, playing in three games and leading the team in clearances, interceptions, and blocks. This maturation process began with his time on the Mexico team that won the Tokyo 2020 Bronze Medal. Vasquez has since moved to Italy, becoming a dominant defender in the Gold Cup.

“I had the good fortune of playing in the Olympic Games and then going to Italy, to a country that specializes in the defender. When I first got to Italy the coaches had to correct me, they even had to bench me to correct me, so those experiences in those games, even if you lose 4-0 or 5-0, those help you,” said Vasquez.

Just two victories separate Mexico from claiming a record-breaking ninth Gold Cup, and after a difficult past year that saw El Tricolor lose to longtime rivals United States 3-0 in the semifinals of the 2022-23 Concacaf Nations League Finals and then fail to advance past the group stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Vasquez is very motivated by the prospect of taking home a trophy..

“I think the team and the fans deserve it. We’ve gone through some difficult moments. We came up short in the Nations League losing in the semifinals, so it’s a moment in which we need to fix things with the fans but also with ourselves. We have made a great effort, we know the road we’ve traveled to get here and so tomorrow represents a wonderful opportunity to get to a Final,” concluded Vasquez.

Johan Vasquez is ready to face Jamaica for the first time

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