Paul-Andre Walker, Staff Reporter
Venicia Reid, Kimmia Parker and Vin Blaine
JAMAICA'S YOUNG Reggae Girlz will begin today's third place play-off in the CONCACAF Women's Under-20 World Cup qualifiers, 90 minutes away from a history-making feat.
Finalists United States and Canada have already qualified for the Under-20 championships. Jamaica or Mexico will get the all-important third place for the August 16 to September 2 championships.
Having already gone further than any other female team out of the Caribbean, Jamaica now have to shrug off the disappointment of a tough loss to Canada in Wednesday's semi-final for their 1:00 p.m. local time start against Mexico.
Speaking to The Gleaner via telephone yesterday, Jamaica's coach Vin Blaine says his team has already gone a long way towards doing just that.
"We had a meeting at about 9:30 last night and we spoke about getting back the mind set. The girls always believe they can win, which is a plus," said Blaine.
IN DEEP WATERS
With Jamaica in deep waters now, much of the nation are hoping that that they will not flounder against the Mexicans. Blaine, who has seen the Central Americans play twice, thinks his team can get the better of them.
"They play similar football to us, the typical South American style but they have weaknesses that we can exploit. Their midfield isn't much to write home about and they don't deal with crosses very well," he said.
"I don't think they are as tough as the Canadians or the Americans but on the day you have to hope that the girls come to play," he added indicating that his team had not yet played their best football. For the Mexicans, Nancy Gutierrez is the calming solid figure who marshalls their back line from central defence.
With her around, the impressive scoring record of the Jamaicans will certainly be tested.
On the other end of the field the Jamaicans will have some trouble as well.
Mexican captain, Maria De Lourdes-Gordillo and Nancy Gandarilla are two speedy forwards, who are notorious for their quality and the Jamaicans will have to get their positional play right to ensure that they aren't outdone.
MURRAY IS KEY
For the Jamaicans, while Venicia Reid and Shanique Mitchell have been getting on the scoresheets and making the news, it is the defensive work of Christina Murray that they will really have to depend.
Murray, according to Blaine has been the stand-out of the tournament after she replaced Jamaica's captain, Stacey-Ann Johnson in the heart of the back-line.
