Reggae Girlz seek back-to-back wins against Peru

FRESH from a convincing 2-0 victory over Peru, Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz take on their South American opponents once again, with Head Coach Hubert Busby eyeing another win to build momentum ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifiers.

The Reggae Girlz secured their win in the first of two international friendly matches on Sunday — with goals from Jody Brown in the fifth minute and Kayla McKenna in the 52nd minute — at Estadio Miguel Grau in Lima, Peru. The Reggae Girlz will be seeking to maintain their winning momentum at the same venue when the match kicks off at 4:00 pm (Jamaica time).

Busby has hinted at making changes to the squad, giving more players a chance to showcase their skills on the international stage.

“You can definitely see a lot of changes in the squad, and possibly some tweaks in the way we play,” he said. “Formation-wise, we’re still building on the base we want to implement, but again, it’s about giving a lot of these players opportunities in terms of what that looks like for international football.”

With several young players eager to make their mark, the match promises to be an exciting clash of youth and experience. Busby emphasised the importance of balancing the squad with experienced players to guide the younger ones.

“I think what we also have to be very cautious about is not throwing too many young players in at once,” he said. “They need some steady heads around them to get through some of the difficult moments when we’re suffering and things aren’t going our way. So, I think it is important we have some of those players on the pitch as well.

“But overall, [during] every window we kind of alluded to everyone going to get a chance to have minutes during the next game, so we are really excited about that and really excited to see how some of these players step up.”

Busby says the priority is to win.

“Our objective doesn’t change,” he said. “Our objective is to go out there again with a good performance and win the match. Winning is a habit. We’re here to win football matches, and that’s contagious — it’s part of our DNA. When we step on the field, that’s one of the reasons why you balance out your squad because some of the veterans are leading those players and showing them — not just in training but obviously on the pitch as well — that that’s required to win a football match.

“The last two training sessions were geared up with us taking the game to the opposition and looking to see if we can win the match early, and then try to manage the games then. Those are all the things we want to take out of this match, and be a part of our growth, and be able to take that into the World Cup qualifiers as well.”