JAMAICA’S senior Reggae Girlz enter today’s CONCACAF Women’s Championship opening Group B encounter against fellow Caribbean opponents Martinique at the Sporting Park in Kansas with plenty of confidence.

Kick-off is slated for 5:00 pm Jamaica time.

The other teams in the group — Mexico and Costa Rica — will square off in the feature football game of the double-header at the venue.

In the meantime, Group A comprises Trinidad & Tobago, Haiti, Guatemala and United States.

The top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-final stage.

The Jamaicans, who were not able to secure a solitary International Friendly ahead of the tournament, practised yesterday morning and head coach Merron Gordon said the spirited nature of the session was indicative of an eager bunch of players.

“The Girlz are positive; they are relaxed and they are concentrating on what they need to do. The mood is very good. The good thing is that new stuff they learned over the past month or so, they are carrying it out in sessions which follow and that’s a good sign,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Though short on international match practice, the coach said a few warm-up games against college and academy teams during their extensive camp in the US aided the fine-tuning process.

Though the teams did not meet at the Caribbean Football Union Championship in August, Jamaica finished second at that tournament, while Martinique were fourth. Trinidad & Tobago clipped Jamaica 1-0 in the final to be crowned champions, while Haiti ended third.

After today’s game, the Jamaicans depart for Illinois to meet Costa Rica at the Toyota Park on Saturday. Jamaica complete the preliminary stage against Mexico at the RFK Memorial Stadium in Washington, DC next Tuesday.

The semi-finals and final are to be contested at the PPL Park in Pennsylvania on October 24 and 26, respectively.

The top three teams at the Championship will automatically qualify for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada. The fourth-placed country from CONCACAF will enter a World Cup spot play-off against Ecuador, South America’s third-placed team.

Canada is not competing at the CONCACAF phase, because as hosts, they receive a bye to the World Cup.

No Jamaican female team has ever qualified for the World Cup.

Martinique are not eligible for World Cup qualification because, though they are a part of regional entity CONCACAF, they are not members of FIFA, the world governing football body.