Mexico v Jamaica: Layun preparing for different challenge

Miguel Layun has warned his Mexico team-mates they must not let their standards drop against Jamaica as they bid to make it two wins from two at the Copa America Centenario.

Juan Carlos Osorio’s side kicked off their Group C campaign with an impressive 3-1 triumph over Uruguay on Sunday, despite having Andres Guardado sent off in the second half of a bad-tempered match in Arizona.

The result stretched Mexico’s unbeaten run to 20 international matches, with their last defeat being a 2-1 reverse against Ecuador at the 2015 Copa America.

Now they move on to the Rose Bowl in California to face a Jamaica team that suffered a 1-0 loss at the hands of Venezuela in their opener.

“I think we have to be aware that Jamaica has different characteristics than Uruguay and they’ll try to take advantage of that,” Layun said. 

“If we keep up this intensity, with this way of approaching matches that we’re showing now, I think we’ve got the chance to put in a good match.”

Thursday’s fixture is a repeat of the 2015 Gold Cup final, a game Mexico won 3-1 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia to claim the trophy.

However, Layun insists past results count for nothing when the two CONCACAF nations go head-to-head again.

“I think they come with a vision to get to the next round. Nobody’s thinking about what happened in Gold Cup or tournaments before that,” the Porto player added.

With Guardado – who scored one of Mexico’s goals in the Gold Cup final – serving a ban, Osorio will have to make at least one change to the XI that started against Uruguay.

Jamaica – who failed to pick up a point in last year’s Copa America – will also be missing a player through suspension.

Rodolph Austin was shown a straight red in the 23rd minute against Venezuela for a dangerous challenge on Tomas Rincon, the midfielder making contact with the opposing player after clearing the ball on the stretch.

Coach Winfried Schafer could opt to recall Wes Morgan to the starting line-up. After celebrating winning the Premier League title with Leicester City, the defender was not picked on Sunday due to tiredness.

However, he was sent on just before half-time to replace Kemar Lawrence, who has since been ruled out for the rest of the tournament with a groin injury.