Reggae Girlz take on World Champs US in 2021 WNT Summer Series
After an encouraging performance against African flag bearers Nigeria, reggae Girlz Head Coach Hubert Busby is eyeing a similar showing against World champions United States today in their second and final friendly contest of the 2021 WNT Summer Series, presented by At&t 5G.
Though Deneisha Blackwood’s 51st-minute strike was enough to hand the Reggae Girlz a 1-0 win over the 38th-ranked Nigerians, the possibility of a similar outcome against the number one ranked United States seems unlikely, but Busby remains optimistic that his team can produce another good display, as they continue their build-up to the World Cup Qualifiers.
Unlike the hot and humid afternoon conditions they had to bear for the opening fixture, today’s game is scheduled for 9:15 pm at BBVA Stadium in Houston.
According to Busby, the Girlz performance against Nigeria spoke volumes of how well the team can play and what can be achieved if they spend more time together, as they hardly showed any signs of a team that was inactive for over a year.
With this 2021 WNT Summer Series being their first outing since the Olympic Qualifiers in February last year, Busby believes the win and, by extension, the experience of today’s clash will only augur well for his side going forward.
“It just goes to show the more we are together and the more continuity we have, the better we can become. We have a tremendous team spirit at the moment which is great to see and it’s something we have always had, but when you are away from people for so long you are not sure how that goes.
“But we are back together and we picked up as if we haven’t been apart and again that is credit to the players and the culture that we are trying to create,” Busby told the Jamaica
Observer.
“That said, obviously US is a different game, we respect our opponents, but we are going to try to play our game as well. We have some ideas in terms of what we want to do and what we want to achieve long term because as I said it is not just about these two games, it’s about what happens in November,” he added.
Today’s contest marks the fourth meeting all-time between the USA and Jamaica and the first outside of a Concacaf qualifying event. In their three previous meetings — 1994, 2008 and 2018 — USA won all three meetings by a combined tally of 22-0.
With those statistics planted firmly in the back of their minds, Busby believes a reproduction of player’s work rate against Nigeria could make things more difficult for their more illustrious opponents on this occasion and could possibly result in the Girlz finally breaking their goalless drought.
“They are the best in the world and it is always good to play against the best in the world, especially leading up to November. So it should be a good contest to give us an even better indication of what it is we need to work on as we look ahead,” the tactician noted.
“What we took from the Nigeria game is that we still have some work to do in possession. We did really well with our counter attack and again, I think if we get used to each other some more, have some more training sessions we will pick up more on those areas. So again it should be a good game against the US, we are under no illusion that we are going to control the tempo of the game, but once the team puts in another great shift in all areas of the park like they did in the first game, then you can’t ask for more,” said Busby.
Though indicating that there will be some changes to the starting line-up, the former national goalkeeper pointed out that they will be doing an assessment of the players’ health and well-being before making any decisions.
Still, regular custodian Sydney Schneider is all but expected to reclaim duties between the sticks, while Havana Solaun, Chantelle Swaby and Olufolasade Adamolekun, who all came on in the first game, could take up places in the final 11.
“We are going to check with the high-performance team to see how the players’ legs are and then we will make a decision for the line-up, but the miles Den Den [Deneisha Blackwood] and Chinny [Chinyelu Asher] clocked were incredible and it goes to show the work that players have done coming in here, which is great. And just the attitude, the mental toughness to go out there and perform at that rate shows the mental fortitude of the ladies,” Busby ended.