Sun | May 5, 2024

‘Donaldson is perfectly right’

Coaches agree with ‘best result ever’ Reggae Girlz achievement

Published:Thursday | July 27, 2023 | 12:08 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
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Reggae Girlz coach Lorne Donaldson.
Courtesy of @jff_football
Reggae Girlz coach Lorne Donaldson.
Jamaica’s Deneisha Blackwood (left) heads the ball next to teammate Chantelle Swaby (centre) and France’s Kadidiatou Diani during a Women’s World Cup Group F match at the Sydney Football Stadium in Sydney, Australia on Sunday, July 23. The match ende
AP
Jamaica’s Deneisha Blackwood (left) heads the ball next to teammate Chantelle Swaby (centre) and France’s Kadidiatou Diani during a Women’s World Cup Group F match at the Sydney Football Stadium in Sydney, Australia on Sunday, July 23. The match ended in a 0-0 draw.
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FOLLOWING THE Reggae Girlz historic first Women’s World Cup point, after a hard fought 0-0 draw with title contenders France on Sunday, coach Lorne Donaldson proclaimed the result the best the country had achieved on the international stage. Local...

FOLLOWING THE Reggae Girlz historic first Women’s World Cup point, after a hard fought 0-0 draw with title contenders France on Sunday, coach Lorne Donaldson proclaimed the result the best the country had achieved on the international stage.

Local coaches are agreeing with him.

The result was one of the upsets of the tournament, with the 48th-ranked Girlz holding the European powerhouse, ranked five in the world, to a stalemate and both former national women’s coach, Bradley Stewart, and former national youth coach, Lenworth Hyde, believe Donaldson’s pronouncement to be right.

The obvious comparison is between the 0-0 draw and the Reggae Boyz 2-1 victory Japan at the World Cup in 1998.

According to Stewart, the Reggae Boyz were ranked in the 50s (58) but lost to the two top-ranked teams they played at the World Cup in Argentina (ranked fourth) and Croatia (seventh).

He noted that although Jamaica got a win by beating Japan 2-1, he thinks the Reggae Girlz getting a result against a top team was a more impressive achievement.

“When you are playing the number-five team and you are ranked 40-odd, the difference in ratings is wide between France and Jamaica. So you cannot knock him when you look at it mathematically.

“I will not knock Lorne. Getting a win is much more important than getting a draw but getting the draw against a team regarded as amongst the best and you are regarded amongst the lower bracket teams, it is a hell of a point,” said Stewart.

Hyde believes that the Reggae Boyz 0-0 draw in the Rose Bowl at the 1998 Gold Cup could compare in terms of the difference in stature of the teams, however, he thought the Girlz did it on a much bigger stage.

BIGGER STAGE

“We drew with Brazil once and almost beat them. When we beat Japan, we were ranked 50-odd and they were ranked 70-odd. So I think he (Lorne) is right if he said that. France are ranked fifth and we are ranked 48th. So he is right. We have never done it. The Brazil result could compare, but the World Cup is a bigger stage,” he commented.

Former Tivoli, Waterhouse, and Rivoli United coach Calvert Fitzgerald begs to differ. Fitzgerald said the Reggae Boyz going on the global stage for the first time and getting a win remains priceless.

“The girls’ result was a very good result, but you have to put it in context. Seeing that France is the number-five ranked team and we are ranked 48th, it will have to be in the conversation.

“But I think the achievement of the men the first time they qualified for the World Cup, that 2-1 victory over Japan, even though the Japanese team was not as highly ranked as the French teams the Girlz played, is greater.

“The Girlz are in the conversation, but looking on football overall, I think the Japan 2-1 is the greatest accomplishment in our footballing history,” he stated.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com