Reggae Girlz in 2020
A year of growth for Shaw
Published:Wednesday | January 6, 2021 | 12:11 AM
The year 2020 represented a year of growth for national striker Khadija Shaw, who has elevated her game in one of the best leagues in the world.
Her continued rise in women’s football has not gone unnoticed, but has not surprised her national teammate Tiffany Cameron or national youth coach Tashana Vincent.
Following 2019, a year which saw her feature in Jamaica’s first-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup Finals campaign and became the country’s all-time leading goal scorer for both genders, Shaw continued to impress for her French club, Bordeaux, in the Division One Feminine, one of the best leagues in the world.
In her debut season, she scored 10 goals from 15 appearances, becoming the team’s second-highest goalscorer and tied for fourth among the league’s best goalscorers.
Her inaugural campaign ended abruptly because of COVID-19, but her second season with Bordeaux has resulted in her production increasing rapidly with the 2020-21 season reaching its midway point.
Shaw has already scored 14 goals from 11 appearances this year and is the league’s leading goalscorer. Her team is currently in third place in the standings, chasing qualification into next season’s Champions League.
Vincent says that her increased production was inevitable.
“This is no surprise. Khadija was the leading goalscorer leading up to the World Cup. She scored the most goals in all the qualifiers. So, when somebody leaves the World Cup and goes into a pro team where they are going to have players from all over the world coming together and providing her with quality looks at the goal, it’s only a matter of time before she would explode,” Vincent told The Gleaner. “And every week right now I am expecting her to score because I have been watching the league and they can’t manage her.”
PLAYER OF THE MONTH HONOURS
Shaw has had four multi-goal games so far, including putting four past Fleury 91 in a 6-1 win in October. She scored seven goals in that month, earning her Player of the Month honours. She was again recognised by British newspaper The Guardian, which named her to their top 100 Women Footballers in the World list, ranked number 49, marking a 31-place jump from her 2019 ranking of 80.
However, Vincent firmly believes that she is currently cementing her place as one of the best players in the world.
“I don’t care about the 49th [place] that they put her. In my opinion, she is top five in the world right now and defenders are scared to face to her, and I must commend her for that,” she said.
Cameron, who played alongside her at the France 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, praised Shaw’s talent and humility, noting that she was an admirer of the hotshot striker before she joined the senior squad.
“She is a natural goalscorer, and what I respect about her the most is that she is humble. I used to watch her play even before I officially became a Reggae Girl, and loved her style of play and ability to always make things happen and score goals,” Cameron said.
In a December interview with French newspaper 20 Minutes, football analyst Aline Riera said that she believes that Shaw is one of the best players in the division.
“She is athletic and very powerful with exceptional ball coverage, but she is also capable of incredible things with her feet because she has a very good technique and goes fast,” Riera said.
Shaw’s first game of the new year will be against league-leading Paris Saint Germain (PSG) on January 17. The match will also be a showdown between the league’s top two goalscorers, with the Jamaican striker and PSG’s Marie Antoinette Katoto going head-to-head.