Jamaica Senior National Women’s Team head coach Lorne Donaldson is hoping that the country benefits in a more meaningful way from this FIFA Women’s World Cup qualification than it did four years ago.
The Reggae Girlz, as they are more popularly known, punched their ticket to the Australia/New Zealand 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Finals on Monday night when they swamped Haiti 4-0 in their Group A CONCACAF Women’s Championship inside Estadio BBVA Bancomer in Monterrey, Mexico.
Captain Khadi “Bunny” Shaw with a brace (58th and 70th, penalty), added to strikes from Trudi Carter (26th) and Drew Spence (79th) to ensure the Girlz made it back-to-back qualification to FIFA’s showpiece event.
Jamaica finished second in the competitive Group A with six points behind World Champions USA on a maximum of nine. Haiti ended in third place on three points, with hosts Mexico finishing at the foot of the four-team group without a point.
The top two teams from each of the two groups earn automatic qualification to the FIFA Women’s World Cup. The two teams finishing third enter a 10-team playoff in New Zealand next February for another crack at making it to the World Cup.
“Hopefully, we can use this qualification as a federation to turn this football around in a positive way because the last time we qualified, we just qualified,” noted Donaldson in a post-game interview.
“This time, there is a lot of good that is going to come out of this, but the biggest thing I see is an influx of young players getting involved from Jamaica and all over the world . I think we can right this thing because we are a little bit more organized on the outside with Cedella Marley and the foundation (Bob Marley). Hopefully our federation can join in. But most of all, I hope Jamaica can join in this time and welcome women’s football like we should.”
Donaldson, who was a member of the technical staff when the Girlz created history by becoming the first Caribbean team to qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2018, added: “I think some people are sceptics, still, but with open arms, we can blossom, and we know this in the future, so hopefully it will do a lot for Jamaica and this time I think it will.”
Having forced a change of head coach from Vin Blaine to Donaldson after the completion of the previous round of the campaign, the team’s preparation was hampered drastically, with Donaldson being appointed merely weeks ahead of the final round in the football-mad Mexico. They were also drwan in a tough group which included defending World Cup champions the USA, as well as Haiti.
With the help of the Bob Marley Foundation, with Cedella Marley at the helm, a two-week training camp was arranged in Donaldson’s, Colorado.
No practice games were possible at such late notice, and with the football season for most of the players having ended, several players reported unfit. A lot of work was undertaken to get the team in a physically competitive shape and reasonable cohesion.
For the work done in Colorado, Donaldson was grateful.
“In Jamaica, we have a saying that ‘we little but we tallawah,’ meaning we are very small, but we can do big things, and I always back these players to do big things. No practice games, we just got together and do a two-week camp, but I think people have to buy into what we are doing.
“It’s a process, a short process, and a lot of questions were being asked, but I think we answered the questions. I don’t think we are done yet; I just think it is the beginning of what’s coming in the future.
“I think we can do bigger and better things, and hopefully, people will see and support the program and what we are doing. It means a lot to the girls,” he said.
Meanwhile, the local governing body, the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), has wholeheartedly congratulated the Reggae Girlz on their back-to-back FIFA World Cup qualification.
In a statement released Tuesday, the JFF said the team’s “creation of history, once again, has been due to their unquestionable strength of purpose, character, determination, unity, and patriotism. We commend and lift them up to Jamaica as living example of what is possible even when tremendous challenges abound.”
The statement continued: “The JFF thanks and congratulates the entire technical staff led by Head Coach Lorne Donaldson, who had the team together less than three weeks before the start of the tournament.
“Finally, none of this would have been possible without our partners, the Bob Marley Foundation, the Reggae Girlz Foundation, the Ministry of Sports, and all well-wishers and supporters.
“We wish the team further success in their remaining games, beginning with the semi-final fixture against Canada on Thursday, 14th.”
QUESTION
Did Jamaica realize any meaningful benefits from qualifying for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup?
