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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>Do or die affair</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline>Reggae Girlz tackle Panama in KO game</SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>From Ian Burnett Sports Editor
Sunday, November 19, 2006
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<P class=StoryText align=justify>Miami, USA -Jamaica's women's football team will attempt to close in on an historic qualification to the 2007 FIFA World Cup Finals when they face Panama in the curtain-raiser here at 5:00 pm at Tropical Park.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The game, a knockout encounter, marks the opening of the 2006 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup tournament, which will also be used as a qualifier for the World Cup Finals, as well as for next year's Pan Am Games in Brazil.
In the second game at 7:00, Trinidad & Tobago meet Mexico. The two winners move on to the semi-finals in California on Wednesday, with the final and third-placed play-off set for next Sunday in California.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The winner of the Jamaica vs Panama game will meet Canada in the first semis, while the winner of the T&T/Mexico match will book a date with many-time champions USA.
This will mark Jamaica's fourth appearance at the Gold Cup and today the Girlz are eager to make an impact and advance to the semis for the first time.<P class=StoryText align=justify>A confident coach Vin Blaine was not afraid to put his head on the block, when he spoke to the Sunday Observer yesterday.
"Well, we have a very positive outlook," he said, "We have to win this game; it's a knockout situation so there's no second chance. We have to go into the game very positive and I rate our chances very highly. I believe we're going to win..."
Blaine's vastly improved lasses literally flew through the Caribbean qualifiers, piling up 36 unanswered goals over 484 minutes.<P class=StoryText align=justify>They brushed aside St Lucia 5-0, Antigua & Barbuda 10-0 and St Kitts & Nevis 11-0. In the second round, they thrashed Bermuda 7-0 before outclassing Haiti 3-0.
Panama are expected to pose a stiffer test, having qualified for their second consecutive Gold Cup and already securing a berth into the 2007 Pan American Games.
Panama beat Costa Rica 2-0 and Guatemala 3-0 in qualifying, and their Peruvian technical director Lizandro Barbaran is optimistic about their chances.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"We're looking to get to the World Cup Finals next year and this is the first match, which is very important...," he said through the team's doctor Augusto Alvarado.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Yesterday the Reggae Girlz missed a scheduled training session due to a transportation mix-up and had to resort to stretching and exercise in the swimming pool at the hotel.
However, Blaine said it didn't overly affect the team's preparedness as the three-day camp in Fort Lauderdale had already done the trick.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"It (camp) went fairly well, considering the conditions. We started off haphazardly, but we got ourselves going after a while and we had three good training sessions and a practice game, which I think did well for the team.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"I got to see Audia Sullivan again and also Diana Hue in a new position for her and it went well. I think the game proved that we are ready for tomorrow's game," he said.
Blaine admitted he knows nothing about Panama, but is not overly worried: "I don't know anything about Panama, but I just found out that they have a tape of us.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"We're going to go into the game and work it out as we go along because this is not anything new to us... but I've always maintained that in this region for a team to really defeat us they will have to be playing good football. We're going into the game to execute the way we know...," Blaine said.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Unlike Blaine, Barbaran said he knew about the Jamaicans. "We know that the Jamaican team has a stro
<SPAN class=Subheadline>Reggae Girlz tackle Panama in KO game</SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>From Ian Burnett Sports Editor
Sunday, November 19, 2006
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>Miami, USA -Jamaica's women's football team will attempt to close in on an historic qualification to the 2007 FIFA World Cup Finals when they face Panama in the curtain-raiser here at 5:00 pm at Tropical Park.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The game, a knockout encounter, marks the opening of the 2006 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup tournament, which will also be used as a qualifier for the World Cup Finals, as well as for next year's Pan Am Games in Brazil.
In the second game at 7:00, Trinidad & Tobago meet Mexico. The two winners move on to the semi-finals in California on Wednesday, with the final and third-placed play-off set for next Sunday in California.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The winner of the Jamaica vs Panama game will meet Canada in the first semis, while the winner of the T&T/Mexico match will book a date with many-time champions USA.
This will mark Jamaica's fourth appearance at the Gold Cup and today the Girlz are eager to make an impact and advance to the semis for the first time.<P class=StoryText align=justify>A confident coach Vin Blaine was not afraid to put his head on the block, when he spoke to the Sunday Observer yesterday.
"Well, we have a very positive outlook," he said, "We have to win this game; it's a knockout situation so there's no second chance. We have to go into the game very positive and I rate our chances very highly. I believe we're going to win..."
Blaine's vastly improved lasses literally flew through the Caribbean qualifiers, piling up 36 unanswered goals over 484 minutes.<P class=StoryText align=justify>They brushed aside St Lucia 5-0, Antigua & Barbuda 10-0 and St Kitts & Nevis 11-0. In the second round, they thrashed Bermuda 7-0 before outclassing Haiti 3-0.
Panama are expected to pose a stiffer test, having qualified for their second consecutive Gold Cup and already securing a berth into the 2007 Pan American Games.
Panama beat Costa Rica 2-0 and Guatemala 3-0 in qualifying, and their Peruvian technical director Lizandro Barbaran is optimistic about their chances.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"We're looking to get to the World Cup Finals next year and this is the first match, which is very important...," he said through the team's doctor Augusto Alvarado.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Yesterday the Reggae Girlz missed a scheduled training session due to a transportation mix-up and had to resort to stretching and exercise in the swimming pool at the hotel.
However, Blaine said it didn't overly affect the team's preparedness as the three-day camp in Fort Lauderdale had already done the trick.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"It (camp) went fairly well, considering the conditions. We started off haphazardly, but we got ourselves going after a while and we had three good training sessions and a practice game, which I think did well for the team.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"I got to see Audia Sullivan again and also Diana Hue in a new position for her and it went well. I think the game proved that we are ready for tomorrow's game," he said.
Blaine admitted he knows nothing about Panama, but is not overly worried: "I don't know anything about Panama, but I just found out that they have a tape of us.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"We're going to go into the game and work it out as we go along because this is not anything new to us... but I've always maintained that in this region for a team to really defeat us they will have to be playing good football. We're going into the game to execute the way we know...," Blaine said.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Unlike Blaine, Barbaran said he knew about the Jamaicans. "We know that the Jamaican team has a stro