LAS VEGAS, Nevada – In the last two years, the national teams of Mexico and Jamaica have seen plenty of each other. Dating back to the start of the Final Round of Concacaf World Cup Qualifying for Qatar 2022 in September 2021, El Tricolor and the Reggae Boyz have squared off four times.
Mexico won both matches in WCQ by a 2-1 scoreline, while the teams traded draws in 2022-23 Concacaf Nations League A.
One of the oddities of that four-match sequence was that Mexico DF Johan Vasquez was not involved in any of the contests, so in his young, budding career, the talented 24-year-old center back has not had a chance to size himself up against Jamaica’s venerable attacking force.
That stands to change on Wednesday night when Vasquez and Mexico face Jamaica in the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup. The former Monterrey and Pumas man is eager to take his first crack at the Caribbean giants.
“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 an interview with Concacaf.com.
“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 has thrived in the current Mexico setup under interim coach Jaime Lozano, playing in three games with Mexico in the tournament, with all three resulting in victories. The statistics reflect Vasquez’s stellar Gold Cup. He leads the team in clearances (13), interceptions (6) and is tied with teammate Jorge Sanchez in blocks (2).
It is all part of a maturation process that has taken place for Vasquez in the last two years since he was on the Mexico team coached by Lozano that won the Bronze Medal at Tokyo 2020. His participation in Tokyo led to a move to Italy, where he has developed to become the dominant defender that is on display in this 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.
Mexico are now just two wins away from claiming a record ninth Gold Cup, and after what has been a difficult past 12 months for El Tricolor in not advancing past the group stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and then losing to long-time rivals United States 3-0 in the semifinals of the 2022-23 Concacaf Nations League Finals, the prospect of winning a trophy is serving as great motivation for Vasquez.
“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.
