Interim Jamaica Reggae Boyz coach Merron Gordon has hailed the upcoming Austria Mini Football Tournament as an excellent opportunity for players on the fringe of the national team to get a taste of international football.

The national team, who has already settled in Vienna, will play in fixtures against World Cup-bound teams Qatar and Morocco over the next few days.  Originally, the team also had a match scheduled against Ghana but the fixture was cancelled after the African team failed to arrive at the tournament on time.

 With matches falling outside of the FIFA international friendly window, the team will be without its first team players.  As a result, Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) has called up a majority squad based in Jamaica, with many of them playing in the island’s premier football league.

Gordon, who has taken charge of the team on a temporary basis, believes the inexperienced unit will benefit greatly from the competition.

“The most important thing is for the boys to go out there and do the best they can.  I said to the Boyz, don’t just come here because you were called.  Your talent brought you here, you need to prove to the world that you belong here,” Gordon told members of the media on Friday.

“In a competition like this where you have three teams that are going to the World Cup and we are going to play them with some boys that are just being exposed to international football, I think that’s a good thing.”