‘We will not start favourites’

Former Concacaf Caribbean Cup champions Cavalier will take on Cibao FC of the Dominican Republic in a repeat of the 2024 final at Estadio Cibao today at 7 p.m.

Cavalier edged Cibao 3-2 on aggregate for regional honours in 2024 after securing a 1-0 win at the National Stadium and earning a 2-2 draw in the Dominican Republic.

However, head coach Rudolph Speid pointed out that after four meetings, their opponents hold the upper hand and noted that Cavalier are still in a rebuilding phase from last season.

“We have played them four times. They won two. We won one and one was drawn. So they have gotten the better of us, but I think it still hurts them that we won the final. We won when it mattered most,” he said.

Speid noted that he has lost two of his most productive attacking players, Kimarley Scott and Daryl Masicot, and believes that their performance against Cibao this evening will be a good indicator of how far they can go in the competition.

“Last year, when we were rebuilding, they got the better of us 2-0 on their ground. We are still in that (rebuilding) phase. We lost some players, both our strikers, in Scott and Masicot.

“The same thing happened to us last year, but we have to find other ways to score goals other than just relying on the strikers. Good teams find a way.

“Our team is very experienced, not just the players. The management and technical staff have been here before, and we will give a good account of ourselves,” he said.

He said Cibao are among the standard-bearers of Caribbean club football and will pose a serious challenge in the battle for three points.

“This game is of great significance to us because all three Jamaica teams, including Portmore and Mount Pleasant, are in the same group, which complicates things even more. So it is very important we get a positive result in this first game.

“Cibao are one of the best teams in the Caribbean. Cibao are probably the only team, along with Cavalier, that would have played in all four editions of the Caribbean Cup.

“They have pedigree, and it’s a club that is well funded and have a lot of national players. So they are very formidable.

“We will not start favourites, but Cavalier will fight to the end, and whatever happens here will go a far way in deciding what kind of season we are going to have in the Caribbean Cup,” he stated.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com