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Downswell wants U-20 Girlz to end with win
May 30, 2023
Director of Football, Wendell Downswell, wants the young Reggae Girlz to give everything and leave the Concacaf Women Under-20 Championships with a win when they face Panama in their final Group A game at the Estadio Felix Sanchez in the Dominican Republic at 2 p.m. today.
The young Girlz, like Panama, have been eliminated. The Girlz suffered successive 4-0 defeats to Canada and the United States of America (USA), but leaving the tournament with a victory is their focus for today's match.
"We are going to fight gallantly to get a victory against Panama. It is not going to be an easy task for the ladies, especially playing back-to-back games of this nature, but based on our performance against the USA, we will take faith from that going into this game," Downswell said.
Both teams are yet to score in the tournament, and although the Panamanians have conceded three goals more than the Jamaicans, Downswell believes the teams are evenly matched.
"We have scouted the Panama team, and they appear to be a formidable opposition. It is a good team, but we are going out there to fight and see if we can come home with some saving grace, as it relates to our performance, and get a victory against them," he said.
He added that despite the heavy defeat, their performance against the USA was encouraging and gives them confidence going into the final game.
"We played a hard-fought game and a good first half, but the USA team is a formidable unit. We lapsed for five minutes, and quality teams exploit that," he pointed out.
"The girls fought gallantly. If we had put in a similarly quality performance against Canada, the result may not have been as it was."
USA and Canada lead the group with maximum six points, with the USA holding the advantage with a superior goal difference. The two will square off for group honours also today.
The Reggae Girlz are third in the points standing without a point and a minus eight goal difference. Panama are last with a minus 11 goal difference.
