Ricketts promises to bolster Reggae Girlz prep
President Michael Ricketts has promised that the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) will put greater effort into preparing the senior Reggae Girlz for their historic second-consecutive appearance at the Fifa Women’s World Cup finals in Australia and New Zealand next year.
Ricketts gave the assurance after interim Head Coach Lorne Donaldson reiterated his insistence on the value of progress, much like he did in 2018 when the Girlz first secured a third-place finish in the Concacaf Women’s Championship and qualification to the 2019 World Cup in France.
At the just-concluded Women’s Championship in Mexico, Jamaica’s women defeated Mexico 1-0 and Haiti 4-0 during the group stage to repeat the qualifying feat. They later beat Costa Rica 1-0 in the third-place play-off. The Girlz had suffered a 0-5 loss to eventual winners United States during the group stage and a 0-3 defeat to Canada in the semi-finals.
They are set to face Canada again in a two-way Olympic Games play-in tie in September next year for a spot at the 2024 Paris showpiece.
“We now have seven Fifa windows leading up to the World Cup and we want to utilise every single one and also plan camps and games outside of the windows as well,” Ricketts said.
“We have spoken to our agent and he will have discussion with the coaches to try and identify opponents for each of those windows leading up to the World Cup. The [Olympic play-in] game against Canada will be after the World Cup and we are hoping if everything falls in place it will be historic as well,” he added.
Donaldson, who took over the programme just prior to the tournament, expressed delight at what was accomplished with just two weeks’ preparation, but said the build-up to the World Cup finals will have to be different.
“We have a far way to go and so we are going to have a sit-down as soon as possible because we have to utilise all those Fifa windows. I know there is one at the end of August and there are players that we want to bring in and look at,” the Colorado-based tactician said.
“So it [the planning] needs to be done quickly so that we can get a move on because the World Cup is not too far away. In the past we didn’t utilise the windows so we have to get that done if we want to move forward and be competitive as a football country,” Donaldson noted.
Though Donaldson and his technical staff’s contracts expired at the end of the tournament, Ricketts explained that his administration is currently in the process of renewing the arrangements.
“The contracts are being worked on and I suppose the terms will basically be the same. But I must say so far I am very pleased with Lorne and his team. I think they did very well, all things being considered, I think they did an excellent job, the entire contingent was very professional and the results are there to show,” Ricketts told the Jamaica Observer.
With regards to the baggage foul-up in Houston on Tuesday, Ricketts apologised to the players, staff, and supporters.
“It was just an unfortunate situation that I again apologise for because it should not have happened. We recognise that there have been recurring problems with travel arrangements of our national teams’ movement and commit to doing all within our power and control to correct these incidences,” Ricketts said.
He continued: “Congratulations are in order to all stakeholders and, again, we just want to strengthen relationship with players and coaches across the board to move Jamaica’s football forward.”
— Sherdon Cowan