CATHERINE HALL, St James — Both teams are expected to make changes in today’s second game of the two-game friendly internationals between Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz and South Africa at Montego Bay Sports Complex set to start at 7:30 pm.

Jamaica won Friday’s first game 3-0 with captain Khadija “Bunny” Shaw scoring a second-half double, ending a winless run that started in July 2023, 14 months and 17 games.

With both teams targeting respective events coming up next year, the coaches are expected to make changes to the starting teams and goalkeeper Rebecca Spencer, who missed Friday’s game because of illness, could replace teenager Liya Brooks.

After Friday’s game, Dr Desiree Ellis, head coach of the South African team, had told journalists at a post-game press conference that she would be making changes to her team as she was hoping to see as many of her players in action as possible over both games.

Despite the games being friendlies, Hubert Busby Jr, the Reggae Girlz head coach, said yesterday they were important for FIFA rankings, which help with how teams are ranked for tournaments, “So especially when it comes to Concacaf competitions and World Cup qualifiers, they are really important from that aspect.”

The games, he said, was also important for the players who get to showcase their talents and get into professional teams.

“So we take every match seriously, we take every match with the ability that we want to win and with the idea in mind that we’re looking to put on the best performance possible. So another good win for us would be very helpful heading into the new year,” said Busby Jr.

Busby Jr and assistant Deon Burton were able to watch South Africa in a friendly international against England in England recently and he said it proved to be very valuable.

“We had the chance to see them play, it’s a small world now and we get the chance to scout online, but you know, you see things in person that you don’t always see on the scouting platforms, so it’s a good chance to see some of the things, little nuances, in the way that they play,” he said.

Busby Jr added that despite the visitors not being at full strength he is expecting a tough contest.

“Overall they are a well coached team and making sure that we’re able to kind of nullify some of their threats was very helpful,” he said.

On Friday, Dr Ellis had told the media they hoped to be better for the second game as they were still dealing with the effect of jet lag after the long trip but should have improved by today.

“We are here to test players against this physical side and we also want to make sure that everybody gets an opportunity to play, so that when we go back home we have a bigger core group of players. If you look at our last game against England, I made seven changes,” she said.