Young Girlz end U-20 campaign with 4-1 win
Jamaica ensured that their Concacaf Under-20 Women’s Championship campaign did not end winless as they defeated Panama 4-1 in their final group game at the Estadio Felix Sanchez in the Dominican Republic yesterday.
Goals from Natoya Atkinson in the 16th minute, Davia Richards (penalty) in the 32nd minute, Maya Raghunandanan in the 37th and Amelia Van Zanten (penalty) in the 74th did the damage for the young Reggae Girlz in a performance where they showed execution in the final third. Meredith Rosas got a consolation goal from the penalty spot in the 79th minute. The Girlz got some amount of revenge against Panama as they eliminated Jamaica by a 3-0 margin in the 2022 edition of the tournament in the round of 16.
Jamaica already saw their Under20 World Cup dreams dashed after 4-0 defeats to Canada and the United States in the toughest group of the final round having had to play them back to back with the preparation time already limited.
However, the team delivered on Jamaica Football Federation technical director Wendell Downswell ‘s promise that the team would fight “gallantly” to get the win and what they produced was their best offensive display of the tournament.
Compared to their 4-0 defeat to the United States on Sunday where they lost 4-0 and only manage to register one shot, the Girlz finished with 20 shots with 12 on target. Jamaica finished the group in third place with three points while Panama ended their campaign winless in three matches and conceding a total of 15 goals.
The wait will continue for Jamaica to qualify for the Under-20 World Cup with their highest-ever finish in the tournament still being fourth place in 2006.