‘It was a disappointing end for us’
It was another case of so close, yet so far for Jamaica’s Under-20 Reggae Girlz at another edition of the Concacaf Women’s Championship, and now they are left to pick up the pieces from their shattered World Cup dream.
The young Reggae Girlz, who were expected to challenge for at least a semi-final position, returned to their respective bases on Sunday, haunted by the thoughts of what could have been had they executed efficiently throughout the campaign in the Dominican Republic.
After suffering 0-1 defeat to Guatemala at the start, the Jamaicans bounced back with their best performance of the tournament, beating Cuba 3-0, but had to settle for a goalless stalemate with Haiti, after going down to 10 players in their final group H fixture.
Those results saw them progressing in third place on four points and pitted them against Panama in the Round of 16 where they got a 3-0 lashing.
That they failed to repeat and, by extension, better their quarter-final run from the 2020 tournament, reflected negatively on Head Coach Xavier Gilbert.
The Jamaican team, which fielded a number of overseas-based players — some of whom were new to the programme — for the tournament showed some individual flair but lacked composure and enterprise as a collective unit.
“It was a disappointing end for us, we were hoping we could have advanced or went even further, but we had some challenges in terms of personnel. Under the circumstances, I think the ladies acquitted themselves and represented Jamaica well, our final game was played in tough conditions, but such is the game, we did our best, it just wasn’t good enough to achieve our objectives,” Gilbert told the Jamaica Observer.
Things started going awry for Gilbert’s side even before the tournament, as prolific scorer and captain Jody Brown was allowed to kick off World Cup qualifying campaign with the senior Reggae Girlz team, instead of leading the Under-20 unit where she would have been more valuable at this point in time.
Add to that the loss of another influential player, Peyton McNamara, who suffered an injury in the very first game and was ruled out for the remainder of the tournament. Mia Mitchell was another casualty through injury, while Theanna Burnett was red carded in the contest against Haiti and so had to sit out the round of 16 fixture against Panama.
“We wanted to top the group, but the loss against Guatemala first up set us back because we did well against Cuba and then Haiti going down to 10 players, but against Panama, we just didn’t apply ourselves how we should have hence the defeat.
“Again we lost three influential players in the middle of the park, but the ladies gave it their all and its just unfortunate that we couldn’t go further,” Gilbert said.
“They (the players) were upset, some were crying and understandably so because they knew they could have done better, but this just a part of their development and they will learn from the experience. It would have been nice to get to the World Cup but a lot of them were playing for the first time and some of them will definitely add to widening the senior pool,” he added.
Among the positives from the tournament for Gilbert, was the fact that the five local based players- Shaneil Buckley, Daihla Whyte, Andrene Smith, Davia Richards and Javanae Jones- all got quality playing time which would have exposed them to overseas scouts.
Buckley, Smith and Richards, along with overseas-based Liya Brooks, Mitchell and Burnett are eligible for the next Under-20 cycle.
Additionally, Buckley, Mitchell, goalkeeper Brooks, and Smith are also expected to be a part of the the upcoming Under-17 tournament scheduled for April 23 to May 8, also in the Dominican Republic.
“The biggest positive for these young ladies is the pride of representing Jamaica and it also opened a window of opportunity for them because I know there were scouts there who were impressed with some of the players. And again, they also add to the widening of the senior team pool, if and when the time comes for them to be called upon,” Gilbert opined.
On that note, the tactician reiterated the age-old call for a greater level of organisation and attention to be given to the women’s programmes, particularly where pooling a team together ahead of a crucial tournament is concerned.
“It is no secret that our women’s programmes are growing in terms of our player pool; we have the talent. We just have to develop and nurture the talent of these players to maintain a good mixture of overseas-based and local-based players,” Gilbert argued.