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U-20 Girlz tackle St Lucia in qualifier
LIVINGSTON SCOTT With Jamaica's U-20 REGGAE GIRLZ in Havana, Cuba
Sunday, October 23, 2011
AFTER Cuba's 9-0 demolition of St Lucia in the opening CFU Under-20 World Cup qualifiers at the Pedro Marrero Estadio in Havana, Cuba, on Friday, coach Vin Blaine hopes to guard the Young Reggae Girlz against complacency when they take on the St Lucians in their fist match of the qualifiers this afternoon at 2:30 Jamaica time.
He said he has asked the girls to take the match seriously and block the Cuba result out of their heads.
However, in an effort not to show the hosts too much, Blaine said he will make a few minor adjustments to the team, but nevertheless expects three points from the game.
"We have to win the game and build a rhythm going into the Cuba game, but I don't think we should have a problem winning against St Lucia," he stated.
"I am confident; it's just a matter of the scoreline. But they will be coming to play us hard because they have already lost... and so a little pride will be in it for them," he added.
"But we need to do what we have to do to win the game as our aim is to win the group, not just qualify," he told the Sunday Observer after training yesterday.
The team went through light training with a little emphasis on tactics and technical work.
"We just want them to get acclimatised... and get their minds focused on the game... but what would be satisfying... is to see the things that they do in training... because in the last game against Barbican we didn't look too cohesive," he disclosed.
"But if we score three or four goals we'll be fine as long as we play the way we should going into the Cuba game," he said.
His counterpart Zepthan Grey said the first match against Cuba was very tough and he anticipates a similarly difficult encounter against Jamaica.
We expected a tough challenge (against Cuba) and we got that. But we knew we were in a tough group, so you cannot take anything away from them (St Lucia) because we were up against really tough opponents.
"... We expect the same challenge against Jamaica because we are in a group with two of the strongest teams in the region and so we're expecting a tough match," he said.
He pointed out that they have identified some weaknesses from the previous game and have looked at them and now are trying to get the girls refocused after their defeat.
Meanwhile, the Jamaicans had to wait over an hour in the arrival lounge at the Jose Marti International airport in Havana on Friday due to minor glitches in their travel arrangements.
The team touched down at approximately 2:20 pm, but were stopped at the check-in point as the visas to enter the country were not present on their arrival.
However, despite the delay, the youngsters kept their cool and seemed unfazed by the situation. And after an hour of waiting, the passes were eventually made available.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport...#ixzz1bcTY87qx
LIVINGSTON SCOTT With Jamaica's U-20 REGGAE GIRLZ in Havana, Cuba
Sunday, October 23, 2011
AFTER Cuba's 9-0 demolition of St Lucia in the opening CFU Under-20 World Cup qualifiers at the Pedro Marrero Estadio in Havana, Cuba, on Friday, coach Vin Blaine hopes to guard the Young Reggae Girlz against complacency when they take on the St Lucians in their fist match of the qualifiers this afternoon at 2:30 Jamaica time.
He said he has asked the girls to take the match seriously and block the Cuba result out of their heads.
However, in an effort not to show the hosts too much, Blaine said he will make a few minor adjustments to the team, but nevertheless expects three points from the game.
"We have to win the game and build a rhythm going into the Cuba game, but I don't think we should have a problem winning against St Lucia," he stated.
"I am confident; it's just a matter of the scoreline. But they will be coming to play us hard because they have already lost... and so a little pride will be in it for them," he added.
"But we need to do what we have to do to win the game as our aim is to win the group, not just qualify," he told the Sunday Observer after training yesterday.
The team went through light training with a little emphasis on tactics and technical work.
"We just want them to get acclimatised... and get their minds focused on the game... but what would be satisfying... is to see the things that they do in training... because in the last game against Barbican we didn't look too cohesive," he disclosed.
"But if we score three or four goals we'll be fine as long as we play the way we should going into the Cuba game," he said.
His counterpart Zepthan Grey said the first match against Cuba was very tough and he anticipates a similarly difficult encounter against Jamaica.
We expected a tough challenge (against Cuba) and we got that. But we knew we were in a tough group, so you cannot take anything away from them (St Lucia) because we were up against really tough opponents.
"... We expect the same challenge against Jamaica because we are in a group with two of the strongest teams in the region and so we're expecting a tough match," he said.
He pointed out that they have identified some weaknesses from the previous game and have looked at them and now are trying to get the girls refocused after their defeat.
Meanwhile, the Jamaicans had to wait over an hour in the arrival lounge at the Jose Marti International airport in Havana on Friday due to minor glitches in their travel arrangements.
The team touched down at approximately 2:20 pm, but were stopped at the check-in point as the visas to enter the country were not present on their arrival.
However, despite the delay, the youngsters kept their cool and seemed unfazed by the situation. And after an hour of waiting, the passes were eventually made available.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport...#ixzz1bcTY87qx