Jamaica’s tough-tackling defender Damian Lowe believes Jamaica is at the stage now where they can compete with the best in CONCACAF following the Reggae Boyz’ encouraging 0-1 defeat to the United States of America on Thursday.

It was a game that saw the visiting Americans strike early as Ricardo Pepi netted in the fifth minute, but the Reggae Boyz fought back and could have drawn the game had Demarai Gray converted his 14th-minute penalty, which was saved by American goalkeeper Matt Turner.

Jamaica will face the USA on Monday, November 18 in St Louis, Missouri and Lowe is confident they can turn it around.

“The US knows what we bring. No team want to see us. We just have to take our chances and execute properly and get wins,” said Lowe.

“Football is played for 90 minutes. We have to believe that we want to be the best in CONCACAF, so we have to be fearless,” he added.

Lowe was without his usual partner Ethan Pinnock at the heart of the Reggae Boyz defence but he and Mason Holgate looked comfortable against the Americans.

“I think we gave it our all. The guys really put it to the test today. The Jamaican in us really fought and dug deep and we’ve got the opportunity to win the game. We got two opportunities. Unfortunately, again the score line doesn’t attest to how we performed.”

Lowe and Holgate got chances in the 66^th and 67^th minutes to score but didn’t hit the target from good positions. “But this football, it’s a cruel sport. We just have to take our chances. But again, it’s a two-way tie, so we can’t really beat ourselves up. It’s a quick turnaround. So, again, about a year ago, same predicament, so we just have to do it again,” said Lowe.

The Americans with Christian Pulisic of AC Milan, Weston McKenzie of Juventus and Joao Cardosa of Real Betis had 60 per cent of the possession compared to Jamaica’s 40 and 498 passes to the Reggae Boyz’ 341.

But Lowe saw a lot of positives from the Reggae Boyz as they subdued the American invaders. “I think we had more good than bad situations. I mean, defensive-wise, they are a threat in the midblock, but they didn’t really threaten us,” Lowe pointed out.

“They were always in front of us. It’s not like they were pinging two [or] three passes and breaking us. It happened, like maybe two or three times, but other than that, I think we’re defensively solid,” he emphasized.

The US had only three shots on target all dealt with comfortably by goalkeeper Andre Blake and they got only one corner kick compared to Jamaica’s three.

“Second half, we got the press right. You know, we’re a little bit more patient and when the subs came in, it’s fresh legs, ball handlers, guys who are running at people,” he explained.

Lowe reiterated that he strongly believes Jamaica can overturn the one-goal deficit and win the two-legged tie in the US.

“Not much went wrong. I think it’s a fix for us. I’m not gonna say it’s an easy fix, but it’s fixable. We’re professionals. We have to go back to the drawing board,” said Lowe. “But me, personally, I’m not worried. We know that the players that we have, you know, experienced players, and we’re gonna give it our all for our nation.”