Gilbert takes positives from Reggae Girlz’s 5-1 loss
NATIONAL senior women’s football team Head Coach Xavier Gilbert is taking positives from their 5-1 defeat to hosts Chile on Friday.
The game at the Complejo Juan Pinto Duran Stadium in Macul was the first of two in the country. Michelle Olivares (12th minute), Maria Jse Urrutia (22nd minute), Yastin Jimenez (61st minute), Yenny Acuna (70th minute), and Paloma Aracela Bustamante Duarte (88th minute) scored for the Chileans, while Chinyelu Asher got the lone goal for the Jamaicans from the penalty spot in the 77th minute.
Gilbert admitted that it wasn’t the Girlz’ finest moments on the pitch, but says the performance from the Jamaicans is something that can be built on heading into the next game.
“We started off very flat and tentative, allowing the Chileans to get into their groove, but we did well,” Gilbert told the Jamaica Observer.
“We had our moments in the game. We didn’t start off how we said we wanted to start off. The second half was better; we played the ball in the areas we thought we should have exploited in the first half, and we got some good opportunities and got behind them a number of times.
“And that’s the positive from the first game, taking it into the second game, and if we can do that more often and more consistently, then we are going to be more competitive.”
The next game is set for Tuesday at Estadio Municipal de La Pintana Stadium in Santiago and Gilbert is expecting a better showing from the Reggae Girlz.
“We just have to get them recovered and then prepare accordingly for the next game,” he said. “[We’ll] do what we have to do in training and replicate that in the game.
“The plan going forward for the next game is to go out there and execute better than we did. We just have to tighten up in midfield, and then in defence, we have to be strong. We were a little bit fragile, but we have to be stronger in defence.”