The Reggae Girlz

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Are you one of those Jamaicans who missed church this morning just to watch the Reggae Girls play against France in the FIFA Women’s World Cup? Perhaps, you were deliberately late for church or work just to watch the match, and what a match it was. The Reggae Girls football team is ranked at number 43; however, their creditable performance against the highly touted and number 5 ranked France will be spoken about for years to come. We should be mindful that Jamaica is drawn in a tough zone; Brazil and Panama are the other teams in Group F. However, Jamaica is not however daunted by the big occasion. The path for the Reggae Girl has not been an easy one; however the team has played with a lion heart and is rather talented. This team has shown the talent the Caribbean has to offer women’s football and undoubtedly will represent the Caribbean and The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, (CONCACAF) regions very well. After their debut at France 2019, the world was eager to see how they would perform at the 2022 Concacaf Championship. The Reggae Girlz lived up to their expectations and finished in second place of Group A, earning themselves the ticket to Australia/New Zealand 2023, only losing one game in the group stage against the United States. As a society we have grown accustomed to the Reggae Girls rewriting history and that they did today in their opening match against the French team. A fearless and strong performance earned Jamaica its first ever point in Women’s World Cup history as the Reggae Girlz secured a 0-0 draw at the Sydney Football Stadium in Sydney, Australia against heavy favorites France. Jamaica had previously only appeared at one World Cup, in France four years ago, and lost all three games in a disappointing campaign. Jamaica, led by the extremely talented Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw, worked hard throughout in Sydney against one of the tournament frontrunners and deserved to take a point from the match. Khadija Shaw is perhaps one of the most exciting players to watch in women’s football. She has scored an impressive 18 goals in 20 games for her club Manchester City. Unfortunately, the Reggae Girls will be without their captain Khadija Shaw for the next game against Panama given that she earned two yellow cards and was sent off late in the second half. 2023 Women’s World Cup Qualification Route. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is divided into six confederations based on each nation’s geographic location, with each confederation allotted a certain number of qualifying spots for the World Cup. While both Australia and New Zealand automatically qualified as the host nations, the 30 other countries had to earn qualification through tournaments played within each confederation. The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup; the ninth staging of the quadrennial international women's association football championship, will be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand and is scheduled to take place from July 20 to August 20. Jamaica is among the 32 nations that will compete in the Women's World Cup; eight groups of four teams, with the top two teams progressing from each group to a knockout tournament. Interestingly, eight nations will be making their first-ever trip to a World Cup. The draw made history for the Reggae Girlz, who were earning their first point at a World Cup. Additionally, the draw against Jamaica diminishes France’s chances of winning Group F but also increases Jamaica’s chance of making it out of group F into the knock out stage. However, with the perennial favourites Brazil still to play, the task of topping the group has became a lot more interesting. The United States with their top ranking remain the team to beat at the Women’s World Cup and the two-time defending champions remain number one in the FIFA rankings ahead of the tournament. The USA are looking to become the first country to win three World Cups in a row and have held top spot since 2017. Apart from Jamaica, Haiti with a ranking of 53 is also representing the Caribbean at the World Cup. Unquestionably, every well thinking Jamaican wishes the Reggae Girls all the very best at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. To borrow from a Jamaican proverb, “Wah nuh dead, nuh call it duppy”. Jamaica is deserving of this historic moment. Wayne Campbell is an educator and social commentator with an interest in development policies as they affect culture and or gender issues. waykam@yahoo.com @WayneCamo © #ReggaeGirlz #Jamaica #FIFAWomensWorldCup #FIFAWWC

Comments

  1. Dayle T26 July 2023 at 00:09

    Another proud moment for Jamaica and I am happy you have written this article to make it history. I enjoyed reading it Sir Wayne. Thanks

    ReplyDelete

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