Donaldson promises improvement against Czech Republic
Published:Saturday | February 18, 2023 | 12:47 AM
National senior women’s head coach Lorne Donaldson did not sugarcoat the performance of the team in their opening Cup of Nations tournament defeat but has promised an improved side in their second game against the Czech Republic tonight at the CommBank Stadium in Sydney, Australia. The match kicks off at 10:50 p.m. Jamaica time.
The Reggae Girlz were beaten 3-0 by Spain in their tournament opener early on Thursday in a game where they had only two shots with one on target and conceded 74 per cent possession to the seventh best team in the world.
Donaldson was blunt in his assessment of the team’s performance in the game but believes there is a platform for improvement against the Czechs who lost 4-0 to hosts Australia in their tournament opener.
“There isn’t much to say about (Thursday). We weren’t good. So obviously at least we know that. The coaches, myself (included), didn’t do a good job organising the players and getting after it,” Donaldson said. “But it is a three-game tournament and we can’t be as bad. So we have to be better next game and I am looking forward to that now that we have a full complement of players to go on with the tournament.”
The full complement was affected with some players arriving 24 hours before match day as alluded to by national striker Cheyna Matthews but she was quick to dismiss any possible avenue for excuses.
“Most of us travelled a whole day in-between or a day before the game. That is always difficult but we don’t make excuses going in. We talked a lot about our mindset going into that game (against Spain). We tried a different game plan and we weren’t able to train for it maybe as much as we wanted and that kind of showed on the field,” Matthews said. “But part of the things that we talked about is holding ourselves accountable with individual effort. That was there at times and at times it broke down. But moving forward, we have got to stick with our game plan and build on that.”
The games are being used as preparation for the FIFA Women’s World Cup which will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. In addition to experiencing environmental conditions and adjustments when the tournament takes place in what will be Australia’s winter season, Donaldson promised that the necessary changes will be made in order for the team to produce a better showing.
“Spain were very good, we weren’t any good, to say the least,. But we will make those adjustments and hopefully, now the next game will be much better,” Donaldson said. Tonight’s game will be the first-ever international meeting between the two countries.