kingston, jamaica (cmc):

OF the four CONCACAF Gold Cup qualifiers who will face off in today's Digicel Caribbean Football Championship semi-finals at the National Stadium, only hosts Jamaica have previously had title success (1991, 1998, 2005).

Guadeloupe entered the final round as one of the most impressive teams and they are bracing for a tough game against the Jamaicans. The French side whipped the Cayman Islands 7-1, beat Grenada (2-1) and toppled highly rated Martinique 3-1 in second-round qualifying in October.

Their ace striker Mickael Antoine-Curier says while they respect the Reggae Boyz, he believes they can stop them.

Confident

"It (Jamaica) is a strong team, well organised and has some strong, fast players. But we've to perform as well and try to upset the hosts. We're confident of ourselves," said the big 25-year-old, who plays for Dundee FC in Scotland.

"I think we can do good against Jamaica," added Curier, a six-goal hero for Guadeloupe in this year's championship.

Grenada's mercurial Spice Boyz are also strong candidates.

They stunned T&T's Soca Warriors when the finals kicked off last week and earlier this year, they held confederation giants Costa Rica to a 2-2 draw in St George's after defeating Jamaica in a friendly.

Step into high gear

The Cubans used an under-strength team, resting key players on Monday night when they lost to Haiti, their first defeat of the campaign. The Cubans should step back into high gear for this important fixture although FIFA's 139th ranked Grenada at their best can test them.

"Right now, there's no favourite on the field, it's 11 against 11,Ó Cuba's coach Roberto Hernandez said at yesterday's pre-match press conference.

"The team that does better on the field will win. We saw the Grenada team play and they are a good team," he added.

Their advance to the last four has given Grenada a Gold Cup appearance for the first time in their history and player-coach Anthony Modeste believes they have already reached a high platform here.

"It'll put Grenada's football on the map. Grenada has never qualified for the Gold Cup. It'll do a whole lot for Grenada's football and the people of Grenada," he said.

Modeste, comfortable here as he plays his club football with the local premier league champions Portmore United, expects his side to do well and he is not prepared to put Cuba above them.

"We're very optimistic," he said. ÒTo be in the final four, it must say something about the Grenada team. If we go out there and perform, we stand as good a chance as any. On the pitch names don't play football, it's 11 against 11."