Schafer: I want more, more, more from Jamaica

Jamaica are rank outsiders to do any damage at the Copa America, but coach Winfried Schafer said they are capable of causing a stir and reaching the quarter-finals.

The Caribbean nation are drawn in Group B alongside Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay in their first appearance in the competition.

Under the rules of the tournament, the two-best third-placed teams are guaranteed progression to the last eight alongside each group’s top-two sides.

The German coach hopes to pull off a surprise in Chile, and is determined to make the Jamaican people proud of his team’s achievements.

“I hope we can go to the quarter-finals,” Schafer told the Jamaica Gleaner.

“Football is open, you cannot tell; Brazil were beaten 7-1 in the semi-final of the World Cup.

“This is good for Jamaica, it is good for the players, good for me and good for everybody.

“I want to win matches and hope at the end when we come back from Chile our whole island is happy about the Reggae Boyz.”

The Copa marks the start of a hectic period for Jamaica, who are competing in the CONCACAF Gold Cup and also have FIFA World Cup qualifiers to contend with.

But Schafer pledged not to let their busy calendar stand as an excuse for any lapse in performance, as they look to build on their 2014 Caribbean Cup triumph.

“We’ve got to work, I don’t want stagnation. Every time, I want more, more, more,” he continued.

“I’m aggressive, I want to see everybody fight for our team, and everybody eat from the success of our team. I’m a positive man, not a negative man.

“Both tournaments are very important. After this we have two qualifying matches.

“I hope we can build from both tournaments a very strong team for the World Cup qualification games in August and September.”

Jamaica makes their Copa America bow against Uruguay in Antofagasta on Saturday.