Panama KO young Reggae Girlz
Published:Monday | August 28, 2023 | 12:10 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
Jamaica’s young Reggae Girlz failed to advance to the final round of the Concacaf Under-17 Championships after they went down 1-0 to Panama in the second leg of their two-way tie at Sabina Park yesterday. Panama won the tie 2-1 on aggregate after last Friday’s 1-1 draw in the first leg at the same venue.
Analia Arosemena scored the game’s only goal in the 38th minute to eliminate the hosts.
Coach Hugh Bradford said Jamaican teams should be qualifying for the final round of all female youth tournaments in the region and that missing out on the under-17s was disappointing.
“I am very disappointed because I believe we have something special in this country. We have talent and should be in every final round in every age group,” he stated.
Nevertheless, he thought the players gave it their all and had nothing but praise for their efforts.
“The players worked really hard. They left it out there. They gave everything they had. But you have to do the best you can with what you have, and I am proud they went out and never quit. They played through everything, and that is all I can ask of them,” he said.
It was an evenly contested game at the start. However, the Panamanians separated themselves in the 38th minute when Arosemena scored to put the visitors ahead.
Jamaica increased the tempo afterwards and had a number of opportunities to pull level but could not make use of the chances.
After the break, both teams defended well, and there were no clear-cut chances until Shanieke Young had a glorious chance to equalise for the home team, but her tame effort failed to trouble Nicolette Mas in goal for Panama.
A minute later, Cristabelle Rios broke through, but goalkeeper Sajane Anderson was quick off her line to prevent an addition to the score by the visitors.
GREAT CHANCE
Jozuanys Santos then had a great chance to put the game to bed for Panama, but she placed her effort wide, with only Anderson to beat.
The young Reggae Girlz showed a lot of fight and industry towards the end, but it was not enough to get them a result.
Panama midfielder Veronica Latorraca said her team trained hard and that it was amazing to achieve their objective.
“We have been training so hard for the last few months, and this feeling is so incredible I am speechless. This is so amazing,” she said.
“Coach reminded us of everything we came through and that we had to give 100 per cent. So (we had to) leave it all or go home,” she commented.