Young Reggae Girlz thrashed

The U17 Reggae Girlz endured a disastrous start to the final round of Concacaf Women’s U17 Qualifiers as they were thrashed 9-0 by Mexico yesterday in the opening match in Group C.

Mexico reigned supreme with a pair of hat-tricks from Citlalli Reyes (third minute, 40th, 50th) and Mia Urbano (seventh, 17th, 64th).

Ixchel Uscanga (70th), Emily Delgado (87th), and Bianka Arredondo (89th) also added their names to the scoresheet.

The young Reggae Girlz had no answer to the Mexican onslaught and conceded the first goal in the opening three minutes of the contest when Reyes finished off a delivery into the box.

Mexico doubled the lead four minutes later with a series of passes to unlock the Jamaican defence that allowed Urbano to tap into an empty net.

Urbano returned for her double in the 17th minute when the striker capped off her team’s build-up play with one-time finish.

Jamaica went into the half-time break down four goals when Reyes got her double with an effort from range.

Mexico started the second half with the same sense of urgency, Reyes completing her hat-trick within five minutes of the restart.

Urbano also completed her hat-trick with a solo effort, dancing between two defenders and letting loose a low-driven shot to the bottom right corner.

Uscanga netted the best goal of the afternoon, beating the Jamaican goalkeeper with her looping strike from 30 yards out.

Mexico added their final two goals of the contest in the final minutes of the game as Delgado and Arredondo scored in the 87th and 89th minutes, respectively.

After the match, defender Kalila Daley said a lack of communication and trust within the team led to their collapse on the pitch.

“I think our communication is off, and I think we need to be more direct with that and the trust with the players. We didn’t trust each other, so I think we need to work on that,” Daley said.

In the group’s other game, Costa Rica scored a 3-1 win over Panama to open their account with three points.

With the results, Mexico sits atop Group C with three points, level with Costa Rica, but holds the advantage with a better goal difference.

Panama sit third without a point, level with Jamaica and both teams will search for better results in their next game.

Jamaica’s second game will see them take on Costa Rica tomorrow while Panama faces Mexico.

The group winner will advance to the 2026 FIFA Women’s U17 World Cup along with the best second-place team.

gregory.bryce@gleanerjm.com