‘Not looking past the draw’

National senior women’s football team head coach Hubert Busby Jr says that he is more focused on his team’s overall preparation for the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers than the seemingly favourable draw that they have been given to start their campaign.

The Reggae Girlz have been given all Caribbean opponents for the first round of the 2023 Women’s World Cup qualifiers, facing the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Bermuda, and the Cayman Islands in Group C. The draw took place virtually on Saturday, where 30 teams were assigned into six groups of five. Only the group winners will join already qualified the United States and Canada in next year’s final round of the Concacaf Women’s Championship, the tournament that will determine the four teams that will advance to the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Jamaica is ranked fifth in the region according to the latest FIFA world rankings and is the highest-ranked nation in the group compared to the Dominican Republic (13th), Bermuda (20th), Grenada (24th), and The Cayman Islands (unranked).

Busby said results of the draw will be meaningless if they do not prepare properly.

“It would be easy to say that we are dismissing it. But the only way that we go into these games in the right confidence is for us to be prepared. I’m not looking past the draw,” Busby told The Gleaner. “We have to play who we have to play, where we have to play them. My concern is next month. It’s ensuring that we have (quality camps and games) to prepare for those games because everything outside of that is irrelevant.”

Recently, Jamaica Football Federation General Secretary, Dalton Wint, said that plans are in motion to finalise those camps as well as an opponent for an international friendly in September.

Former national player Tashana Vincent, who took part in Saturday’s draw, said at the ceremony that given the opponents the Girlz have to face, she is confident.

“I would say if I should choose one (difficult opponent), it’s going to be the Dominican Republic. But with respect to everybody, I’d bank on my Reggae Girlz going through in this round. In fact, I can confidently say that my Reggae Girlz will go through,” Vincent said.

Jamaica are currently ranked 51st in the world and looking to secure back-to-back trips to the World Cup Finals.

“We have to respect our opponents. You can honestly understand that we are one of the seeded teams, one of the favourites to advance. But as we all know that football is not played on paper. It’s a different position when we are one of the top teams in Concacaf now and everybody wants to play you and beat you, and that takes in a different sort of pressure,” Busby said.

daniel.wheeler@gleanerjm.com

Schedule

Group C

vs Bermuda: Nov. 2021

@ Grenada: Nov. 2021

@ Cayman Is: April 2022

vs the Dom Rep April 2022