HEAD coach of Jamaica’s Under-20 Reggae Girlz Vin Blaine said yesterday he was not surprised his team has progressed to the CONCACAF championship to be held Panama in March.

Jamaican, who finished as runners-up to automatic qualifiers and Zone E winners Haiti in the CFU finals held in the Dominican Republic recently, booked the third Caribbean spot as the best second-place team across both zones.

The other group, Zone F, was contested by hosts and winners Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago, Puerto Rico and Guyana.

Cuba advanced from the group, having ended on top with five points. They are followed by the eliminated Trinidad on four, with Puerto Rico and Guyana, in that order, with three apiece.

In the final set of games in Havana on Wednesday, Guyana clipped Puerto Rico, 1-0, and hosts Cuba and Trinidad and Tobago ended 1-1 — results that paved the way for Jamaica.

“Based on the unfortunate way we lost to Haiti, I think we deserve to go through… our assessment of the two games in Cuba gave us some hope and I was not surprised at the results,” said Blaine, reacting to the news of the results coming out of Cuba.

Blaine, who is also the technical co-ordinator of the national women’s programme, said while he was overjoyed that things worked out in favour of the Girlz, the toughest task of getting financial help for the team lies ahead.

“We’re really elated to advance to the CONCACAF round, but we now have to reach out for financial support for us to get all our players from overseas and to hold camps in February before the tournament in Panama,” he noted.

Captain Trudi Carter, who scored one goal in the Dominican Republic play-offs, was beside herself with joy yesterday when she learnt that her team had made it to the next stage of their campaign.

“I’m feeling great right now… I’m so excited,” she said.

Carter, the maestro from midfield, said she is now looking forward to going to Panama, but is aware that much needs to be done to properly prepare the team.

“We are going to need some camps between now and then, plus we will need some international practice matches and to work on our physical conditioning,” she told the Observer.

Another player who was instrumental in Jamaica’s crucial wins that revived hopes, midfielder Carla Daniels, could not contain herself when contacted yesterday.

“Overwhelmed, that’s how I am feeling right now… I believe that we deserved to be in the CONCACAF round as we played good football,” said the Butler Community College student.

Jamaica ended second after losing their opening game 0-1 to Haiti, who gained maximum nine points.

Deciding against a meek surrender, the Young Girlz rallied with wins over the Cayman Islands (2-0) and the hosts Dominican Republic (4-0) to give their bid well-needed oxygen, which saw them ending on six points.

The Cayman Islands finished third on goal difference to hosts Dominican Republic, who both ended with a point each.

With their fate in the hands of the final outcome in Zone F in Cuba, the ball bounced favourably for the Girlz, who would have advanced as the best second-place team with a draw in any of Wednesday’s games.

Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti will now join the USA, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala and hosts Panama in the eight-team CONCACAF championships, from which the top three finishers will advance to the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup slated for Japan in the summer.