Having managed to pull a full 23-member squad out of the hat, interim Reggae Girlz Head coach Xavier Gilbert is now cautiously optimistic about their chances of springing another surprise in the upcoming Concacaf Women’s Gold Cup qualifying fixtures against Panama and Guatemala.
Gilbert, who was appointed late Thursday, skipped his first hurdle by securing the services of a fairly youthful squad, which also includes some out-of-favour experienced players for the games scheduled for October 25 and 29 respectively.
However, the second hurdle remains the fact that Gilbert has a short window to try and achieve some semblance of cohesiveness with his new squad, as they are scheduled to arrive in Panama on Monday and will train on Tuesday, with the game scheduled for Wednesday. They will then return to Jamaica on Thursday to host Guatemala on Sunday.
“Yeah, it is tough, and I always knew it will be a difficult task but that’s the thing with these FIFA windows and how we manage ourselves will be important at the end of the day,” Gilbert told SportsMax.TV.
“The good thing for us is that we have individuals who understand and know what we have to focus on. So, it is good that we managed to find persons and it is also an opportunity for the younger players to showcase their talent and secure themselves a spot in future camps to come,” he added.
Gilbert’s squad includes a new call up in 32-year-old England-born Melissa Johnson of Charlton Athletic, while Canadian-born Israela Groves, 24, who is also up to earn her first international cap, was a part of the senior Reggae Girlz training camp in Florida earlier this year.
Meanwhile, 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup veterans Marlo Sweatman and Chinyelu Asher highlight the more senior players, along with goalkeeper Chris-Ann Chambers, Jayda Hylton-Pelaia, Alika Keene and twins, Malikae and Mikayla Dayes. The remainder of the team comprises mostly Under-20 representatives now transitioning to the senior level.
The coach’s predicament stems from the fact that all 22 members of the successful 2023 World Cup squad have made themselves unavailable, while Cheyna Matthews has retired.
Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) in a release on Friday, announced the suspension of selection for all 22 players until they meet with the federation's hierarchy to resolve all issues regarding payments among other things.
“It is what it is, I can’t control some of the variables, so I just have to control what I can. At this point in time, we managed to assemble a squad and we must give credit to the ladies who have accepted the offer to represent their country on short notice and we just want to build on that,” Gilbert, who is still without an assistant said.
“We have a lot of players who will be earning their first caps so again, it is an opportunity for them to show the world what they have to offer, and we just hope that they will make full use of it. It is going to be difficult against two tough oppositions, but we are hopeful that we can do what we have to, to ensure we get two positive results,” he noted.
Gilbert pointed to the fact that fitness will not be much of a concern with the selected players as his biggest positive as it will allow him to jump straight into technical and tactical work when they arrive in Panama.
“The good thing is that all the players are currently active with their clubs and colleges, that was of some concern, but these players are coming in with games under their belts which is a positive. So again, we just hope that we can get them together as soon as possible and manage to squeeze out some results,” he ended.
Following the opening fixtures, the 37th-ranked Reggae Girlz will then host Panama on November 29 and close away to Guatemala on December 3.
Squad- Chris-Ann Chambers (Dinamo Sokhumi); Javanae Jones (ultnomah University); Lauren Reid (University of Maryland); Malikae Dayes (AAB (Denmark); Zoe Vidaurre (George Mason University); Nevillegail Able (University of Maine at Fort Kent); Chinyelu Asher (SCU Torreense); Alika Keene (SK Slavia Praha Zeny); Israela Groves (London City Lionesses); Ricshya Walker (LaSalle University); Marlo Sweatman (Viktoria Haladas); Christina Salmon (William Carey University); Davia Richards (Hill College); Mikayla Dayes (Rodez AF (France); Shaneil Buckley (Frazsiers Whip); Natoya Atkinson (Seaward County); Destiny Powell (Frazsiers Whip); Melissa Johnson (Charlton Athletic Women FC); Sydnie Street (Seneca College); Jayda Hylton-Pelaia (Woodbridge Strikers); Alliyah Morgan (George Mason University); Shanhaine Nelson (Cavaliers); Tyiesha Nelson (Reinas Academy)
Jamaica’s young Reggae Girlz gave head coach Hugh Bradford something to smile about, as they concluded their failed Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship campaign on a high with a 4-1 beating of Panama, at the Felix Sanchez Stadium in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on Tuesday.
Natoya Atkinson (16th), Davia Richards (32nd), Maya Raghunandanan (37th) and Amelia Van Zanten (74th) were on target for the Bradford’s side, while Meredith Rosas, got Panama’s consolation in the 79th minute.
With the win, the Girlz ended Group A in third on three points scoring four goals and conceding nine, behind United States and Canada, to whom they suffered identical 0-4 defeats. Panama finished at the foot of the standing without a point.
It was a dominant performance by the Girlz, who for the first time in the tournament played with some degree of freedom and bossed possession throughout.
In fact, they were so fluent in attack, particularly in the first half, to the point where they held a high line, got significant numbers forward and camped out in Panama's quarters.
After firing a few warning shots, the Girlz inevitably broke the deadlock when Atkinson fired home from close range, after Destiny Powell’s initial effort came back off the crossbar.
Though they continued to apply consistent pressure, the Girlz had to wait until minutes past the half-hour mark to double their lead. Richards converted from the 12-yard spot, after Mireilis Rojas was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the 18-yard box on the VAR review.
Panama was not without hope, as they tried to play their game and even stringed a few good build ups together to remind the Jamaicans of their potential but couldn’t get anything on frame.
However, the Jamaicans pushed further ahead through Raghunandanan, who pounced on loose ball and lashed a one-time effort from a distance past Alejandra Garay, in goal for Panama, to make it 3-0 at the break.
Panama was never expected to overturn the deficit, but they were certainly more purposeful on the resumption with Sherline King forcing a fingertip save from Jamaica’s goalkeeper Katie Oakley in the 58th minute.
The Central Americans grew in confidence in the attacking third as the game progressed, especially as the young Reggae Girlz briefly became complacent and overconfident.
When they regained composure, the Jamaicans added a fourth courtesy of Van Zanten from the penalty spot, after the fleet-footed Shaneil Buckley was taken out by Garay inside the danger area.
But Panama responded shortly after with a 12-yard conversion of their own. Substitute Andrene Smith felled Aaliyah Gil in the 18-yard box, shortly after entering the pitch and Rosas was cool, calm and collected in firing past Oakley.
The Jamaicans could have added to their tally in the latter stages, but lacked composure in the final third, while it took some brilliance from Oakley to deny Gil, from a distance, four minutes from time.
The Jamaica Football Federation has named a 20-player squad that will represent the country at the 2023 Concacaf Women’s U20 championship in the Dominican Republic from May 22 to June 3. The players are scheduled to depart for the championship on Saturday, May 20.
Jamaica will play in a tough Group A that also comprises the United States, Canada and Panama. Group B is made up of Mexico, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, and Dominican Republic.
After round-robin play, the two best teams from each group will advance to a knockout stage. All knockout stage matches with the two finalists and the third-place match winner qualifying for next year’s FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
The matches will be played across two venues - the Estadio Felix Sanchez in Santo Domingo and the Estadio Panamericano in San Cristobal.
The United States is the current champion (seventh title overall) of the CWU20 after defeating Mexico 2-0 in the 2022 Final.
The Jamaica squad is as follows: Andrene Smith, Shaneil Buckley, Una Moy Lue, Davia Richards, Liha Williams, Taijah Fraser, Tiny Seaton, Kaitlyn Ennis, Natoya Atkinson, Destiny Powell, Akeila Johnson, Janiel Mignott, Amelia Zanten, Liya Brooks, Avery Johnson, Maya Raghunandanan, Anaiyah Robinson, Njeri Butts, NjerI Lewis, Katie Oakley.
A goal in each half from Natoya Atkinson Tuesday night led Jamaica’s U20 Women to a 2-0 victory over Honduras and a spot in the final round of the Concacaf U20 Championship qualifying competition.
In the keenly contested Group E top-of-the-table clash at the National Football Stadium in Nicaragua, Atkinson opened the scoring in the second-minute of play, bursting through two defenders to score.
Jamaica took the 1-0 lead into the second half aware that only a victory would see them through as Honduras entered the match with a better goal difference after both teams won their first two matches in the group.
However, the second goal would come in stoppage time when Atkinson forced her way past one Honduran defender and eluded another to score the match winner and give Jamaica three wins from three starts in the competition.
Jamaica topped Group E with the maximum nine points while Honduras remained in six following the loss.
Meanwhile, Bermuda picked up their first points of the group stage when they beat Anguilla 3-1.
Panama is also through to the final round after they demolished St Maarten 11-0 to top Group B with the maximum nine points.
Curacao, meanwhile, blanked The Bahamas 7-0 to take second place in the group.
El Salvador moved to the top of Group A after beating St Vincent and the Grenadines 10-0 while Cuba notched their first win of the competition with a 2-0 victory over Martinique.
Canada that has won their first two matches can win Group A if they beat El Salvador on Saturday.
The Canadians at + 27 have a superior goal difference to the Salvadorians, who have a goal difference of +15.
Jamaica clinched a spot in the Round of 16 of the 2022 Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Championship on Tuesday with a 3-1 win over hosts Dominican Republic at the Estadio Olimpico Felix Sanchez in Santo Domingo.
The home side jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the third minute through Maria Torreira but the young Reggae Girlz would pull level in the 30th minute thanks to a goal from Tiny Seaton.
Things stayed tight going into the second half, but in the final 20 minutes, Jamaica would pull away.
Dannique Wilson scored the go-ahead goal in the 70th minute and then Natoya Atkinson added an insurance goal in stoppage time to round out the 3-1 score line.
Jamaica now sits second in Group F behind Canada who beat Bermuda 5-0 earlier on Tuesday.
Both teams have six points from two games and face off on Thursday to determine who will advance as winners of Group F.
The Concacaf Women's Championship features 20 teams, 16 divided into four groups of four plus four teams that have already advanced to the Round of 16 through pre-tournament qualifying.
The top three teams from each group will join the four teams that have already advanced via the pre-tournament qualifying in the Round of 16 where, from there, it will be a knockout bracket to the tournament final.
The top three teams at the end of the championship will qualify for the 2022 FIFA Under-17 Women's World Cup which will run from October 11-30 in India.
A goal in each half from Maya Raghunandanan helped steer Jamaica to a 7-0 drubbing of Bermuda in their opening match in the CONCACAF U17 Women’s Championships in the Dominican Republic on Sunday.
Raghunandanan opened the scoring in the seventh minute and added a second in the 65th as Jamaica dominated the lop-sided affair to go top of Group F which also comprises Canada and the home team, the Dominican Republic.
Jamaica took 39 shots at goal, 12 on target and should have won by a more handsome margin. Notwithstanding, Avery Johnson added a second in the 11th minute and Tiny Seaton added a third in the 16th as Jamaica threatened to run rampant.
However, through faulty finishing by Jamaica, Bermuda managed to make it to the break without going further behind.
Jamaica added a fourth in the 47th minute courtesy of Tyesha Nelson but Jamaica had to wait a while before Raghunandanan got her second 18 minutes later. Shaneil Buckley added Jamaica’s sixth in the 78th minute.
Natoya Atkinson, who came on as a substitute for Johnson in the 64th completed the rout seven minutes from full time.
The Dominican Republic is set to face Canada later Sunday.
Panama defeated Trinidad and Tobago 5-1 and the United States swamped Grenada 20-0 on Saturday.
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