Girlz, Haiti in crucial clash
Coach Donaldson: I am looking for overall improvement
Published:Monday | July 11, 2022 | 12:08 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
Reggae Girlz interim head coach Lorne Donaldson is expecting all-round improvement from his players when they square off against Haiti in their final Concacaf Women’s Championship Group A game today in Mexico, starting at 9 p.m.
A place in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand is on the line. Only the top two teams in the group will automatically advance to the World Cup. Jamaica, who defeated hosts Mexico 1-0 in their opening game but lost 5-0 to the United States are third in the table. They are tied with second-place Haiti on three points, but the French-speaking country has a better goal difference and need only a draw to advance. Jamaica must win to gain an automatic spot to the 2023 World Cup. The third place team will enter an inter-confederation play-off.
After the demoralising 5-0 defeat to the USA, Donaldson said they have to be better than they were in that match.
IMPROVEMENT
“I am looking for overall improvement,” he told the pre-match press conference in Mexico yesterday.
“Against the USA we had it tactically planned going in, but we didn’t execute and you can put that down to me.
“So we have to improve in all areas from the offence to the attacking third. So in all areas we must be better,” he stated.
The Haitians turned in a fair performance in their 3-0 loss to the USA, a game in which they missed a penalty. They returned to blank Mexico 3-0, and Donaldson is well aware of how difficult today’s match will be.
“They (Haiti) are a very fit team, and they will not give up. So tactically, we have to get it right and we have to try to exploit certain areas of the field,” he said.
In the 2018 Concacaf Women’s Championship, Jamaica defeated Panama 4-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in the third-place playoff to book their historic berth in the 2019 Women’s World Cup.
Then earlier this year, they stopped the Dominican Republic 5-1 in a top-of-the-table group clash to secure their place in the current competition.
Donaldson pointed out that the Girlz have always done well in these types of situations, and he hopes that that trend will continue for this encounter.
“It is a must-win game for us, so we cannot go out there with a defensive mindset. The Haitians are very good defensively, so they are going to bunker in and try to counterattack. It is going to be a tug-of-war. The team with the most heart will come out on top of this game,” he said. Khadija Shaw, scorer of the team’s only goal so far, will again be the key player for Jamaica. She was taken off with 27 minutes to go in the match against the USA and is expected to be at her best against the Haitians.