Nothing to lose
Reggae Girlz coach plans to leave it on the pitch
Published:Wednesday | August 2, 2023 | 12:10 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
REGGAE GIRLZ coach Lorne Donaldson said his side has nothing to lose when they face off against Brazil in their do-or-die Group F contest at the FIFA Women’s World Cup at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium in Australia at 5:00 this morning.
He also expects that with the return of Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw from red card suspension, they will pose some problems to the world-renowned South Americans.
“There are nerves but this is when you go and enjoy it. What the hell do we have to lose, more than just go out and enjoy yourselves and play,” he told a pre-match press conference yesterday.
The return of Shaw, who is yet to get a World Cup goal, makes them a more dangerous team and a bigger threat, he said.
“She is a big target. She is what I call a lethal weapon. She scores goals. She is the all-time leading goal scorer in Jamaica, men or woman, so that speaks for itself.
“She is very technical. A good leader and a savvy player. A player like Bunny Shaw is going to pose problems for anybody.
“We are happy to have her back because she is a fantastic player. We can use her in certain areas that we didn’t do against Panama and try to be effective, but when I say try to be effective, everybody has to do their job because Bunny is just one player, but a very good player,” he commented.
France lead Group F, followed closely by Jamaica, on the same four points, with the former holding the goal-difference edge. Brazil are a point behind in third and need to beat the Jamaicans in order to advance.
Like the match against France, the Reggae Girlz come into the game as big underdogs. But it is a tag Donaldson relishes.
Nevertheless, he surmised that they will have to match the technically superior Brazilians every step of the way to get a desired result.
“David against Goliath. I wish it was that easy. But Brazil is a powerhouse and we relish the challenge, as we know we would come into the World Cup being underdogs.
“From the qualifiers we have been underdogs, so it is nothing new to us. But Brazil is a powerhouse and we have to come out and match them step for step.
“They are very skilful and we know they are going to come after us with everything they have and so we have to be ready,” he continued.
“From the qualification we have grown. We really haven’t had a lot of (practice) games (leading into the World Cup) but the players are resilient. They come into the World Cup and we need to try any way possible to get to the second round.”