Girlz ponder changes against St Kitts
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Jamaica’s head coach Vin Blaine will be looking for an improved performance when the Under-20 Girlz face St Kitts & Nevis in the second game of their CFU final-round World Cup Qualifier at the Marvin Lee Stadium here today, starting at 5:00 pm (4:00 pm local time)
In the second game of the double-header, hosts Trinidad will face a tough Cuba aggregation.
After a disappointing display against the Cubans on Wednesday, Blaine said the team fell down in certain areas he wants them to improve on this evening.
“I’ll be pleased to see that improvements going into the game against Trinidad. I’ve seen the St Kitts team and I’m not too worried about their standard of play, but we have to be more organised going into that Trinidad game,” he insisted.
He said they intend to win all their games and they need to make the improvements before the final match against the host nation on Sunday.
“We’ve gone one already. Regardless of how we played, we still won the game, and that’s the important thing, but we want to improve in the areas we saw that we were falling down in the last game.
“Apart from the finishing, our passing and our choice of passing was what bothered me. we won the game, but we were passing ball to feet too much and not into space, and we have to make passes behind the defence and we weren’t doing that in the game against Cuba,” Blaine noted.
The veteran Jamaican coach said he doesn’t expect the girls to be as wasteful in front of goal as they were in the opening match, and after yesterday’s training session at the St Mary’s College grounds, his outlook remained positive.
“This morning we worked on both sides of our game, which included defensive and attacking work, but I believe we’ll have the upper-hand against St Kitts and I’m looking forward to the game against Trinidad as by that time we should be much more organised and we’ll see if the girls play much better,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Blaine is contemplating changes to the starting team for this evening’s game.
“We’re still deliberating… because I had a plan coming into the tournament that we would play the overseas players, as this would be the first time that I would be seeing them in a game situation and I was hoping they would gel a bit more in that game.
“But after the game against Cuba I have to rethink my position on that, because we’ll come up against Trinidad that is strong, and depending on how they do against Cuba, they will want to do well against us. So I’m still deliberating the changes I will make against St Kitts,” he said.
Meanwhile, St Kitts’coach Lester Morris said the 0-6 hammering his team received at the hands of Trinidad was not a true reflection of the game, although women’s football in still a growing sport in his country.
He said he expects a good result against the Reggae Girlz and he believes Jamaicans will seek revenge for their defeat to St Kitts in the boys Under-20 qualifiers in Mexico two years ago.
“We’re expecting a result out of this game, whether we get three points or a draw. Jamaica will always remember that Under-20 boys team that beat them in Mexico.
“I was the coach and I know Jamaica is still looking revenge, even though it’s the females now,” he stated.