Dreaming big
Jamaica’s young Reggae Girlz will chase history on Wednesday as they seek to topple powerhouse United States at the Concacaf Championship in the Dominican Republic and continue their charge towards a maiden Women’s Under-17 World Cup qualification.
Kick off is 3:00 pm Jamaica time at Estadio Panamericano in San Cristobal.
There is no doubt that this quarter-final encounter represents the young Reggae Girlz biggest game of their lives and getting by the defending champions will by no means be easy.
Triumphs over Bermuda, Dominican Republic, and Cuba, as well as a stalemate against the other North American powerhouse, Canada, have given Dane Chambers and his team a chance to dream.
“Again, I believe the opportunity to create an upset is there, we have to just go there and execute how we know we can, concentrate for the entire match, apply ourselves, and work hard. We must go out there and work hard for the entire game,” said Chambers.
“We are looking at some tactical options for the game tomorrow, so after going through those we will see which of them the girls react to best. We know what we are up against, we know its going to be tough, but the girls are very upbeat and motivated,” he told the Jamaica Observer ahead of a training session on Tuesday.
The Jamaicans have scored 15 goals, while conceding two across their four games to get to this stage, paling in comparison to the rampant United States outfit’s 49 goals with their clean sheet still intact.
But Chambers believes his team has improved with each game and, as such, he is expecting that trend to continue.
Jamaica blanked Caribbean neighbours Cuba 4-0, while United States hammered Curacao 11-0 in their respective round-of-16 matches.
“The performances have got better with each game, and we saw that against Cuba in the way how the girls adjusted to the conditions. So I’m expecting to see more improvements tomorrow, the girls have shown that they have the ability to match up with any opponent and so I’m expecting them to do well,” Chambers said.
“I told the girls that, as players, these are the occasions that you live for, to play against the best because, if they want to be the best, they will have to beat the best,” he stated.
That said, the tactician is hoping to get midfielder Andrene Smith back into the fold after she missed out on the round-of-16 fixture with a slight niggle.
Smith, who along with Shaneil Buckley and goalkeeper Liya Brooks boasts experience from the Under-20 level, has been instrumental in the team’s defensive organisation and attacking thrust, making her a key asset for today’s game.
“She [Smith] is doing well, she will be a part of the training session this evening, so let just hope that all goes well. As you know, Andrene is one of our key players, so she is important to us in both principles of the game,” Chambers ended.
Should the Jamaicans pull off an unlikely upset, it would push them that much closer to a historic World Cup qualification at age group level.
Jamaica’s best attempt at this tournament was a fourth-placed finish in 2013.
At the conclusion of the tournament, the two finalists and third-place finisher will qualify for the 2022 Fifa Under-17 Women’s World Cup in India in October.