[ad_1]
This article is a part of the Guardian’s Ladies’s World Cup 2023 Consultants’ Community, a cooperation between a few of the greatest media organisations from the 32 international locations who certified. theguardian.com is operating previews from two international locations every day within the run-up to the event kicking off on 20 July.
Overview
They’re now not the one Caribbean workforce to qualify for the Ladies’s World Cup, however Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz would be the first from the area to make a second consecutive look on the finals. Ranked No 43 on the earth, they’re a way more formidable group than that of 2019 and the squad options a number of US and England-born gamers with Jamaican heritage who weren’t part of the workforce which made a historic look in France.
The squad is just like the one which competed within the qualifiers, profitable all however two video games – a 5-0 group stage loss to america and a 3-0 semi-final loss to Canada – on the Concacaf Ladies’s Championship in Mexico. Throughout that event, Jamaica registered a 1-0 win over the host nation and likewise beat Haiti 4-0 and Costa Rica 1-0 on their option to a third-place end.
In whole, the Jamaicans scored 30 targets and conceded 10 between the primary part of qualifying and the Concacaf championship and have been once more led by the talismanic striker Khadija “Bunny” Shaw, who ended the qualifiers with 12 targets.
Since then, the top coach Lorne Donaldson has introduced in just a few younger prospects in 19-year-old goalkeeper Liya Brooks, 18-year-old Solai Washington, 19-year-old Kameron Simmonds and 22-year-old Peyton McNamara, all of whom impressed within the lead-up to the World Cup.
Jamaica will depend on their pace opening up opposing defences, significantly from the large areas, particularly with the addition of fleet-footed gamers Washington, Simmonds and Kalyssa van Zanten, who could be deadly when coming off the bench.
Nonetheless, Shaw, as at all times, would be the point of interest within the assault and, very like she did on the 2019 showpiece when she assisted Havana Solaun to attain a historic first objective in opposition to Australia, she might make a distinction in opposition to their extra illustrious Group F opponents if is she is ready to get on the ball shut sufficient to objective.
The defence has not at all times been the workforce’s robust level and whereas Donaldson and his assistants have finished their greatest to beef up the backline, it mainly stays the identical as that of 2019, excluding Tottenham goalkeeper Rebecca Spencer and right-back Tiernny Wiltshire. Robust performances could be anticipated from the previous captain Konya Plummer, who lately returned from maternity depart, however is wanting raring to go once more. A lot can also be anticipated of her fellow defender Allyson Swaby, who is powerful within the air and resolute on the bottom.
No doubt Jamaica stay one of many greatest underdogs on the World Cup, however they’re definitely not going to the event accepting defeat, particularly with the 2019 expertise now beneath their belts.
The coach
Lorne Donaldson was born and raised in Jamaica the place he began his taking part in profession at Kingston Faculty and Cavalier FC, earlier than shifting to america the place he entered Metropolitan State College of Denver (he was inducted into MSU Denver’s Corridor of Fame in 1995). He went on to play for the Denver Kickers, the place he gained the 1983 Nationwide Novice Cup, and Jamaica.
He later began his teaching profession as an assistant at Metro State Roadrunners in 1983 and has not appeared again since, managing Colorado Foxes, Colorado Rapids and Actual Colorado Foxes, alongside the way in which.
Donaldson was launched to the nationwide girls’s programme on the advice of the ambassador for Jamaican girls’s soccer Cedella Marley in 2014, together with earlier head coach Hue Menzies and the 2 guided the Reggae Girlz to their historic qualification in 2019.
Each later left the programme for varied causes that concerned the Jamaica Soccer Federation, however Donaldson expressed a willingness to return supplied the circumstances have been completely different.
In July final 12 months, he changed Vinimore “Vin” Blaine on the helm, just a few weeks forward of the essential Concacaf Championship, after the gamers launched a letter expressing dissatisfaction with Blaine’s management.
Star player
The Guardian’s first female Footballer of the Year in 2018, the first player from the Caribbean to win the Concacaf Player of the Year Award in 2022, and Jamaica’s all-time leading scorer with 56 goals, Khadija “Bunny” Shaw’s career is one of bumps, bruises and of course, tremendous success.
The 6ft striker’s physicality and speed of thought had set her up for a dazzling career from a young age – aged 14 she played for Jamaica’s under-15, under-17 and under-20 teams. She made her debut for the senior side on 23 August 2015, scoring once in a 6-0 win over the Dominican Republic. She has lost siblings to violence and accidents but used those tragedies to fuel her passion for football.
During the 2019 World Cup in France, Shaw signed a two-year contract with FC Bordeaux and ended her second league season with 22 goals and seven assists in 20 matches, winning the top goalscorer award. She then joined Manchester City where the now 26-year-old continues to show her class, scoring 31 goals in 30 games last season and being named the club’s player of the year.
Rising star
At 18 years old, the US-born midfielder Solai Washington is the youngest member of the squad and is one of the up-and-coming players to look out for at the World Cup. Still in high school going into her senior year, Washington first joined the setup at a camp in Florida this year and hasn’t looked back. She possesses great ability and works hard on and off the ball in a manner that belies her age.
Did you know?
Thirteen of Jamaica’s 23-member squad will be making their first World Cup appearances. That number includes the five England-born players – Rebecca Spencer, Vyan Sampson, Atlanta Primus, Drew Spence and Paige Bailey-Gayle. Also of note is that Cheyna Matthews, like she did in 2019, has returned shortly after giving birth to make the World Cup squad.
Women’s football in Jamaica came to life in 1991 when the Reggae Girlz played their first international match against Haiti, losing 1-0. Since then, they have become one of the top teams in the region, and currently boast their second highest ever Fifa ranking at 43. They achieved their highest of 42 last year.
There have been bumps on the road, however, and in 2010 the women’s programme as well as the women’s Olympic programme were disbanded by the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF). At that point, they were at their lowest ranking of 128 but the country was later removed from Fifa’s world rankings after three years of inactivity.
The programme was restarted in 2014 with the support of Cedella Marley, the daughter of the late Bob Marley. Marley’s robust fundraising efforts eventually helped the Reggae Girlz achieve their historic World Cup qualification.
Realistic aim at the World Cup
While it seems a daunting task for Jamaica to get out of Group F and into the last 16, they are expected to prove more competitive than they did in 2019 and the collective goal is to at least take points off one of France or Brazil. If they can do that, confidence is high that they will get the better of Panama in their final group game. So the realistic aim for the team known for its stubborn determination and passion is to prove their doubters wrong by getting beyond the group stage.
Written by Sherdon Cowan for Sportsmax.tv
[ad_2]
Source link