Skipper’s word
As the Reggae Girlz team head to the United Kingdom for a friendly against Scotland, captain Konya Plummer believes a more polished performance is on the cards as they wind down the preparation phase ahead of the Fifa Women’s World Cup.
Plummer, though lauding her team’s 3-1 win over Panama last Sunday, was by no means happy with the overall display, and with the final squad to France now revealed, the skipper pointed out that its full speed ahead in fine-tuning those weak areas.
The Girlz were due to play a warm-up match against FC Surge in Miami yesterday, and will depart for the United Kingdom today for the Scotland friendly in that country on Tuesday.
After that friendly, the team will then fly to Lyon, France, for a final squad camp before bowing into action at the June 7-July 7 World Cup.
“The performance against Panama wasn’t our best and even though we got the result in the end, which is also important, we still have a few areas to tightening up on, and I think we will do that in Miami and put on a better performance against Scotland,” Plummer told the Jamaica Observer.
“Obviously, the coaches have been shifting around the line-up and probably came up with a different line-up every game that we played, which shows the depth of our squad. So this Scotland game should be another challenge and opportunity for us to do some tweaking and play a better game,” she added.
Plummer, who has been leading the Hue Menzies-coached team with great distinction, also spared a thought for those players who were a part of the qualification campaign but missed out on making the final cut.
Menzies and his assistants, Lorne Donaldson and Andrew Price, on Wednesday revealed a squad of 22, with the final player in the 23-member squad, midfielder Havana Solaun, confirmed yesterday after receiving her Fifa clearance.
“The coaches always said they want to create a solid pool of players and they did that, making it a very competitive environment over the past few months because every player knew what was at stake.
“Everyone here is like a family so I know it was tough for those players who did not make the team to France, but at the end of the day, whatever decisions the coaches make we the players respect it and as always we will go out there and perform,” the skipper noted.
Looking ahead, Plummer, 21, believes the fairly youthful squad to France packs enough quality to spring a surprise or two against their higher-ranked opponents at the World Cup.
Jamaica have been drawn in Group C alongside Australia, Brazil and Italy for the global showpiece where they will be hunting one of the top two spots from the group.
Jamaica’s campaign will begin on June 9 when they face Brazil at Stade des Alpes in Grenoble, France. They will then travel to Stade Auguste-Delaune in Reims on June 14 for battle against Italy, before concluding the group phase on June 18 against top-ranked Australia in Grenoble.
“We are looking forward to it, but the aim is to stay focused, take it one game at a time and go out there and represent Jamaica well. We open against Brazil and it is going to be a good game as we look forward to playing against the likes of Marta, who is arguably the greatest player in the world.
“But we are a team that, regardless of the challenge, we are going out there to do our best. We have been putting in the work and with continued improvement and support back home, that will motivate us,” Plummer ended.
Following the group stages, the top two teams will automatically progress to the Round of 16 where they will be joined by the four best third-placed teams. From there, teams will then progress to the quarter-finals to battle for semi-final berths.
The final of the Women’s World Cup is scheduled for July 7 at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais.