Howard Walker, Staff Reporter
Shanique Mitchell. - FILE
A VERY confident Jamaica National Under-20 Women's football team will leave the island for Mexico today where they will participate in the CONCACAF Under-20 Qualifying Tournament.
Vin Blaine, head coach of the team says the girls are oozing with confidence and so is he. "I am very confident, and the girls are confident too and that is important. If the girls are not confident then it doesn't make sense I am confident," Blaine told The Gleaner.
"Everything rests on their shoulders and we have prepared them as much as we can in the time we had. Their fitness level was what we were concerned about but that's up to par. They have really improved in that area with their endurance and speed," he pointed out.
The eight-team tournament, which will qualify three CONCACAF nations to the 2006 FIFA Women's U-20 World Championship in Russia from August 16 - September 2, will be played at the Estadios Rafael Murillo Vidal and Luis Pirata Fuentes in the cities of Córdoba and Veracruz, respectively.
Jamaica has been drawn in Group B alongside the mighty United States of America, El Salvador and Suriname and will play their games in the state of Veracruz with their opening game against the U.S.A. on January 19.
"We are going to use the first game against the U.S.A. to judge or gauge where we are. That game will determine how well we do in the competition," noted Blaine.
AIM TO WIN
"Every game we go to win. My talk to the girls is that we are going into this tournament to be CONCACAF champions and qualify - not just to qualify. Our aim in every game is to win but playing U.S.A. first we have to be very careful how we approach the game."
But of the other two teams, Blaine has no knowledge of Central American outfit El Salvador and is not worried about Suriname.
"I don't know about El Salvador, but we defeated Suriname 2-0 in Trinidad and unless they do something dramatically to change their style of play and the composition of the team, they shouldn't give us that much of a problem," said Blaine.
SEMI-FINALS
The winners and runners-up of each group will earn a place in the event's semi-finals at Veracruz's Estadio Luis Pirata Fuentes on January 25, with the winners of the semi-final games earning a place as CONCACAF representatives in FIFA's U-20 Women's World Championship.
CONCACAF's third spot in the FIFA event will be determined by a third-place play-off game between the two losing semi-finalists at the Estadio Luis Pirata Fuentes on January 27, before the two finalists meet for the CONCACAF Women's U-20 crown later in the day.
This is the first time that CONCACAF has staged a qualifying event for the Women's U-20 World Championship.
Squad Goalkeepers: Krystle Edwards (St. Catherine), Paula Jackson (Harbour View FC).
Defenders: Kylela Brownhill (Waterhouse FC), Julie Fearon (Barbican FC), Yolanda Hamilton (Barbican FC), Stacy-Ann Johnson (Harbour View FC), Natalya Manyan (Waterhouse FC), Marcillee McBean (St. Catherine), Shauna-Kay Spencer (Harbour View FC).
Midfielders: Rochelle Bryan (Portmore Strikers), Shereen Clarke (Portmore Strikers), Omolyn Davis (Waterhouse FC), Shakira Duncan (Harbour View FC), Yanique Goldspring (Barbican FC), Christina Murray (Waterhouse FC), Kimmia Parker (Harbour View FC), Peta-Gaye Soman (Harbour View FC);
Forwards: Shanique Mitchell (Harbour View FC), Kenesha Reid (Barbican FC), Venicia Reid (Portmore Strikers), Correne Walker (Waterhouse FC).
