Girlz hit for six

[Mosiah]

Girlz hit for six
Andrew Hancel in Trinidad & Tobago at the Concacaf Women's U-17 Champs
Friday, July 18, 2008

Bacolet, Tobago - Jamaica were given a lesson last night at the Dwight Yorke Stadium, beaten 6-0 by Mexico in their opening Group B match in the CONCACAF Women's Under-17 Championships.

Three goals within the first 20 minutes placed the Jamaicans in defensive mode and by half-time the match was already won when Marylin Diaz rifled in a grounder from a set piece five minutes from the interval.


The young Reggae Girlz came out a touch more purposeful on the resumption, but could not find a way to thread a tight Mexico defence.

Substitute Charylin Corral put on the finishing touch with a brace late on, as central defender Zovel Hyre, one of the best performers for the Girlz, was ejected for a second yellow card.

In the earlier game, a gutsy Canada stopped a defiant Puerto Rico, 3-0.

Mexico got off to a stunning start when Nayeli Rangel, in the second minute, turned in a poorly handled corner that went through a crowd of players to beat a stranded Keeley Williams in goal for Jamaica.
It got even better for the Mexicans when Rangel, standing inside the box, coolly chested down a diagonal cross and shrugged off a challenge from the diminutive Jodian Morris before firing home to the left of Williams.

Williams was at fault for the third goal when she was slow to react to Maricela Padilla's long-range effort that beat her at the near post, before Diaz struck after being teed up by Padilla.

The Reggae Girlz had more possession in the second half, but their tactical acuteness, a cultural problem in Jamaica's football, was yet again exposed at this level.

There were enough signs that Jamaica could be competitive at this stage though, but poor decisions, primarily in the offensive third, were their main downfall.

Half chances went to Shenika Williams who got behind the Mexican's backline but failed to connect with Cathryn Rogers' floating pass, while Hyre's angled shot in the first period saw goalkeeper Cecilia Santigao, at full stretch, pushing the ball unto the upright.

Jamaica's coach Luciano Gama made two changes from his original XI, with Trudi Carter replacing Elise Procope in partnering Vanessa Ramsay up front and captain Monique Pryce, originally placed at left-back, switching positions with Morris on the left flank.

However, top striker Ramsay, who is very short in stature, was kept quiet by the towering pair of Diaz and Kenia Sanchez, while the Tricolores used their advantage to good effect, sending high crosses into the danger area that the smaller Jamaicans had a torrid time dealing with.

Corral showed excellent anticipation to move swiftly between two defenders to stab home Anisa Guajardo's cross, before running through to slot the ball past Williams.

Gama now faces a tough challenge against CONCACAF giants Canada in the second match tomorrow, with defeat ending all hopes of advancing to the semi-finals.

Action in Group A kicks off today at the Marvin Lee Stadium with the United States playing Costa Rica and El Salvador squaring off against the hosts.

Jamaica - Keeley Williams, Zovel Hyre, Melissa Madden, Jodian Morris, Nugene Negent (Carla Daniels), Monique Pryce, Sasalee Cooper, Cathryn Rogers, Sashana Campbell, Trudi Carter (Shenika Williams 46th), Vanessa Ramsay (Elise Procope 55th)
Subs not used: Shena Wint, Kession Walker, Shanise Foster, Davia Smith,
Booked: Hyre 39th & 85th

Mexico - Cecilia Santiago, Amber Hernandez, Marylin Diaz, Kenia Sanchez, Viridiana Cardenas, Diana Gonzalez (Charlyn Corral 46th), Nayeli Rangel, Maricela Padilla, Alina Garciamendez, Stephany Mayor (Anisa Guajardo 65th), Amanda Ortegon
Subs not used: Paulette Gallardo, Monica Alvarado, Alma Aponte, Mirelle Arciniega, Anitzel Perez
Booked: Cardenas 14th, Padilla 37th, Garciamendez 45th
Referee: Shane Desilva (Trinidad)
Assistants: Linda Bramble (Trinidad), Cindy Mohammed (Trinidad)
Fourth Official: Cecibel Ortega (El Salvador)
Match Commissioner: Yolanda Camacho Kortman (Costa Rica)

[Hortical]

Back to reality, and they are on track for an early exit.

[Mosiah]

Wouldn't Vin Blaine have received a similar result?

[Hortical]

Boss, we all want the girls to qualify, but it will years for us to have competitive team. I doubt the results would be any different if José Mourinho was the coach.

[OJ]

well if he prepared the same way he will get same results..

[Mosiah]

Not trying to be argumentative in the morning, but I was just really wondering what is it going to take to begin to make a difference. Luciano Gama is talking about the very same things that previous coaches talk about - size of opposition (are Mexican girls bigger than their menfolk?), the obvious preparation of the opposition, the need for us to do more.

[OJ]

mexican girls are smaller in general.. But I have said here before I saw a 15 year old Mexican girl who is the best female footballer I have seen inclulding Mia Ham.. Who did Jamaica play to prepare...

[Hortical]

Mi say all the time that Ja female footballers should scrimmage with boys a few years below dem age. This is one of the techniques the US women use to prepare their teams. In the case of the U-17 team, dem should scrimmage with 12-yr old boys.

[Mosiah]

Our women/girls do scrimmage with the younger boys from time to time.

[Mosiah]

Who did Jamaica play to prepare...

Good question! I doubt very much they had quality matches before the tourney.

[Hortical]

Do Ja girls play as much street ball as Ja boys? Having more girls involved in the sport from an early age will produce a much larger talent pool.

[OJ]

more like 15 year old.. 2 years down...

[Hortical]

15 yr boys would be too physical fi dem. Ja women are tiny.

[Mosiah]

I think our U-17 girls would maul U-12 boys. U-15 boys would be good competition.

[OJ]

The Canadian U 17 team that is in the same Tourney practices against U15 boys every other week. Sometimes they play U14 but the idea is they play two year down vs.. males and two years up same gender... Girls U15 will generally play more physical as a matter of fact we saw more injury to boys U13 to U15 playing against girls than we saw girls getting injured. In one year they were at least 2 broken foot and 1 broken ankle that I personally saw with U14 boys playing girls generally U 16 girls. At my club for instance they banned boys playing girls due to the injuries. The hypothesis was the boys would go into tackle half hearted and the girls would go full and those shaky ankles would get popped.