‘We gave everything’
Reggae Girlz coach credits Colombia but proud of historic achievement
Published:Wednesday | August 9, 2023 | 12:09 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
THE REGGAE Girlz remarkable run at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand came to an end after they were edged 1-0 by Colombia in their round-of-16 clash at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium on Tuesday.
Colombia captain Catalina Usme scored the game’s only goal in the 51st minute.
Even though the teams were evenly matched for much of the contest, Donaldson thought the South Americans were better on the day and deserved the win at the end.
“First of all give Colombia credit. They were better than us tonight. I have to give them that,” he stated.
“I am pleased. We gave everything. We weren’t very good, but that’s football. They (players) should be proud of themselves because I am proud of them.
“I just believe they (Colombia) had a better game. I do not believe it was anything tactical. Technically they were just better than us in terms of passing and not giving the ball away in bad spots.
“We made some mistakes. We were ready to play but they were better on the night. But it’s a magnificent job. Nobody expected this. So this kind of built on what we started. So let’s see what happens in the next tournament,” he said.
Donaldson thought their run in the tournament was made more impressive when one considered that they had no international friendlies heading in.
More games
However, he hopes that with the pending changes coming to the international calendar, the team will have a lot more games and experience under its belt going into future tournaments.
“We have to sit and analyse what happened. How we prepare and how many games we play. Our big problem coming in was we had no international games.
“The first international games we had in four to five months were here (World Cup). We did have a few camps. I can do that (help them improve) by getting more games and getting players better prepared.
“But they are going to change the way Caribbean and Conmebol do things. We will play some more international games and we will use those games when they come up, like the Gold Cup for women, for preparation. So that’s good for the women.
“With more games now we are hoping that we can get a bigger pool and develop more players. It is our hope to get back to the World Cup. So we will let it be and just see,” he said.
Colombia’s Carabali had the first chance of the game but she blasted over from close range after 21 minutes. Khadija Shaw and Jodi Brown had good openings for Jamaica but failed to really trouble the goalkeeper.
However, six minutes into the second half, Ana Maria Guzman’s delightful cross field pass found Usme unmarked in the area and the 33-year-old captain was all quality with her control and finish past Rebecca Spencer in goal.
Colombia were always a threat and only the post denied Leicy Santos’ header late on.
Jamaica fought gallantly to the end and had good chances through Brown, who hit the post and Drew Spence, who glanced a header wide from six yards.
“Summing it up. Coming in without any (practice) games. I feel very happy for the players that they were able to perform at this level without adequate games.
“We have some decent young players, so we should have a good transition going forward and we should start preparing for the future,” said Donaldson.