Jamaica senior Reggae Girlz head coach Merron Gordon said he is satisfied with the group draw for the CONCACAF Women’s Championship set for the United States, beginning October 15.

Jamaica, the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) runners-up, have been placed in Group B alongside Mexico, Costa Rica and little fancied Martinique.

“It’s a fair draw and both groups will be hard to qualify from. It’s the top eight teams in the region so any group you are in you will have to beat good teams to go through, but the players are very comfortable with the draw,” he said.

Group A comprises Caribbean champions Trinidad & Tobago, CFU third-placed team Haiti, Guatemala and the world powerhouses US.

Jamaica open their account versus Martinique at the Sporting Park in Kansas on October 16, before flying off to face Costa Rica at the Toyota Park in Illinois on October 18. They close their preliminary round games against Mexico at the RFK Memorial Stadium in Washington, DC on October 21.

Given that the Mexicans are regarded as the seeded team in Group B, Jamaica could pull off wins over Martinique and Costa Rica and enter that final game already assured of one of the two top places in the group.

“You don’t want to go in the last game struggling [to advance to the semi-finals]. I want to try and get the maximum from the first two games and take it from there. It won’t be any easy task, but it’s a possible task. The staff is upbeat and the Girlz are upbeat and I know all our followers are going to be upbeat because history is on the horizon,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

The top three teams at the Championship will automatically qualify for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, while the fourth enters a play-off against a South American country. Canada will not compete at the CONCACAF phase because, as hosts, they have already received a bye to the World Cup.

No Jamaican female team has ever qualified for the world showpiece event.

Before June this year, the senior women’s team had not taken part in competitive action since the final stage of CONCACAF qualifying for the 2008 Olympic Games. The dormant spell was attributed to lack of funding.

The Reggae Girlz, who are in a local-based preparation camp stretching from yesterday to Friday, were set to hold a training session at the Stadium East field last evening.

— Sanjay Myers