Reggae Girlz hunt third at Concacaf Champs
Published:Monday | July 18, 2022 | 12:08 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
Reggae Girlz coach Lorne Donaldson is hopeful leading striker Khadija Shaw will be available for the team’s third-place play-off match against Costa Rica at the Concacaf Women’s Championships taking place in Monterrey, Mexico today at 6 p.m.
Shaw, who has scored three goals and provided assist in three matches, did not start in the team’s last match, the semi-finals against Canada, with the coaching staff citing fatigue of players. However, Donaldson is hoping the Manchester City star, who is key to their attack, is in a good state to face the Costa Ricans.
“She is a massive part of what we do. Without Shaw, we are not there like a lot of the teams that can miss a player like that and still be as effective.
BEST SHOT
“She scores a lot of goals for us and is a big presence, and that will hurt us a lot, but hopefully we can have her back for the next game and push on and give it our best shot,” he said.
The Girlz still have an opportunity to add Olympic qualification to their back-to-back World Cup qualification success, but must first beat Costa Rica for third today, to set a date with the runner-up of the competition to play off for the other Concacaf spot.
Donaldson said the aim now is to top off their World Cup qualification with another success story.
“We came here as massive under-dogs and nobody expected anything. But we came to go to the World Cup. Tomorrow (today), we play to put a little icing on the cake and see if we can have a shot at the Olympic qualifiers.
“There is still a lot at stake and we are going to give you our best and try to put some more feathers in the hat of Jamaica,” he said.
Defending champions United States play Olympic champions Canada in the tournament final at 9 p.m. The winners qualify automatically for the Olympics.