Price: We like our chances against Costa Rica

Jamaica lost their opening match of the CONCACAF Women's Championships 2-0 to Canada on Friday, but assistant coach Andrew Price said that their display suggests that they will get a positive result against Costa Rica tomorrow night.

"Despite the loss, we see some positive signs going into the Costa Rica game. Defensively, we held good shape, and we just need the offensive players to take the game to Costa Rica," Price told The Sunday Gleaner.

Having drawn the number five-ranked Canada in the group, the technical staff, of which Price is a part, knew that it would have been difficult to top the group, and as such, they have set their sights on winning the group's runner-up position.

But the technical staff knows that finishing second in the group won't be a stroll in the park either as they will have to contend with the Costa Ricans, who edged the Reggae Girlz 2-1 at the Central American and Caribbean Games in the summer.

"The technical staff was always aware that six points could move us on into the second round. Canada were always going to be our most difficult game, and we are over that now," Price said. "It was a good test for us, and now we are getting ready for Costa Rica, which I believe will be the game of the round and we still like our chances against them."

Costa Rica trounced Cuba, a team the Reggae Girlz have beaten badly in the Caribbean Qualifiers, 8-0 in their first match of the Championships. But Price believes that their defensive shape against the Canadians suggests that they will be able to contain the Costa Ricans.

DEFENDED WELL

"We defended well against Canada, who are a top-five team and have a lot of experience playing against top-10 teams in the world, so that suggests that we should be able to contain the Costa Ricans," Price explained. "We just need our offensive players to take the game to them now."

He continued: "We got some good opportunities against the Canadians, and we could have hurt them, but we didn't because I think we respected them too much. We can't do that against the Costa Ricans. It is a must-win game"

The Reggae Girlz are fighting for one of the three and a half spots available to take them to the FIFA's Women World Cup in France next year.