Dicoy Williams

NEW JERSEY, United States:

Just hours before his international football debut for Jamaica last night, Dicoy Williams hardly seemed to notice the darkening clouds gathering outside his hotel here. His focus was on a far greater threat which loomed later at the Giants Stadium.

Williams didn't appear bothered that he was only a late replacement for injured stalwart Tyrone Marshall, or that the opponent Ecuador are ranked 36th and close to booking a place in next year's World Cup finals. He didn't seem perturbed that he had never played for Jamaica at any level before either, or that he has only one full season in Jamaica's top league.

The 22-year-old central defender from Harbour View also seemed oblivious that the biggest crowd he would ever play against - almost guaranteed to favour the South Americans than Jamaica - could well be laying in wait at Giants Stadium here, a venue which can hold 80,000 spectators.

Instead, Williams preferred to place his attention on his own skills. To him, at least on the outside, it was all about business.

"I know that I have a hard task ahead, but we are footballers and we have to just work with anything that comes toward us and deal with it," Williams said in a soft, matter-of-fact tone.

Make no mistake, he was not exuding arrogance. Ahead was a team which knocked over Argentina in a recent World Cup qualifier and held Brazil to a draw. But Williams knew full well that he would have experienced help as he stood at the heart of Jamaica's defence.

At his side would be fellow stopper Jermaine Taylor. Watching his back would be captain Shavar Thomas at sweeper, a veteran of World Cup battles since he was 20. Other teammates, like Demar Phillips and Luton Shelton, had been tested in Jamaica's own World Cup and CONCACAF Gold Cup campaigns. Williams understood he simply had to follow their lead. Listen ... and learn.

"You have to be hearing them," he acknowledged. "They are persons to guide you. That's what experienced players are there to do."

Good player

He planned to lean heavily on his squadmates from Harbour View, including Richard Edwards and Lovel Palmer, as well. But Thomas, Taylor and goalkeeper Dwayne Miller would be his keys.

"Shavar, on a wide scale, is a very good player," Williams said of the man assigned as his hotel roommate for the trip. "Taylor is a very good player. I hope that I can catch a bond with those two players in the match, as early as possible and try to have a very good game."

Plenty was riding on his performance. Jamaica's coach Theodore Whitmore has already declared he is rebuilding the Reggae Boyz, especially after Jamaica was bounced in the first round of last month's Gold Cup.

With Marshall and other central defenders like Ian Goodison expected to leave the international game, Williams can sense an opportunity to establish himself in the national set-up. He didn't mind that his first real test came against a South American power.

Fully confident

"Any game is a game," he said about facing Ecuador, which is currently fifth in the CONMEBOL confederation. "You just have to be yourself and just treat it as how it comes. Even if you make mistakes, just come again and build; know that you have something to build on. I know I am fully confident."

His teammates appeared ready to trust him as well. Thomas said he watched Williams last season in the Digicel Premier League. He left the game impressed with the tall, gangly player.

"The first time I saw him play was against Portmore United and he handled himself very well," Thomas said of Williams. "And I think with the exposure and getting more experience and more games, he'll be somebody that Jamaica can call on at any time."

The former Santos and Arnett Gardens player is hoping his captain is right. He may not have shown much by way of outward expression, but there was no denying nothing would dampen his joy on the eve of his initial encounter with the international game.

"I feel great to know that I am playing for my country the first time," he said. "It's a good feeling."