Xavier Gilbert
With some of Jamaica's young female football players being an important phase of their development, Xavier Gilbert believes the upcoming Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games represents a good opportunity for them to express themselves as they continue their growth process.
In fact, Gilbert, who will serve as Head coach for the youthful outfit to the June 24 to July 7 Games in El Salvador, says it important to expose players to competitive tournaments like these, especially since they represent the next generation of senior Reggae Girlz.
Olufolasade Adamolekun, Chris-Ann Chambers, Mireya Grey and siblings Mikayla Dayes and Malika Dayes, are the only players in the 20-member squad with senior Reggae Girlz experience.
The rest of the team, stacked with overseas-based players, comprises players who just completed the Under-20 cycle, while Shanhaine Nelson, Sydoney Clarke and Logan McFadden, are making a return to the programme.
The Girlz are drawn in Group B alongside Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico and Puerto Rico for the football tournament which begins on June 28.
"As you can see the makeup of the squad is mostly young players so this is just another opportunity for development and should be an excellent stage for those young players to go out and express themselves without fear of failure. Yes, we want to win some games and we hope to give a good account of ourselves but again, this tournament is more than a win at all cost mentality," Gilbert told SportsMax.tv.
"We want to play in a way that is conducive to developing technical footballers that can dominate possession and stay on the ball under pressure. So, exposing our young players to the competitive cauldron of tournaments like this is only beneficial if as coaches, we stay true to our aim of development, keeping it centered on the players," he added.
Gilbert pointed out that familiarity among the players will be crucial to their competitiveness, as the team will enter the tournament with very little preparation under their belt.
“Unfortunately, we won’t be having a lot of training sessions but whatever we can do, we will make the best of it before the first game against Colombia. The good thing is that a lot of the players are familiar with each other which is good, we just have to ensure that we do everything we can do to make sure there is good camaraderie once we get to El Salvador," he said.
It is for that reason why Gilbert welcomed the addition of some senior players, noting that their experience will be invaluable in not only assisting the younger players to adjust both on and off the field, but from a leadership perspective, they can ensure everyone is on one accord.
Goalkeeper Chambers was an integral part of the Reggae Girlz historic World Cup qualification in 2018 and was the team's ambassador at the 2019 showpiece in France, while Adomolekun and Grey were a part of the squad that paraded their skills against Australia, Italy and Brazil at that same world tournament.
“It is good to have them on board, as they will provide some level of leadership and the expectation again, is just to give the level of exposure to these young players, most of whom might be in the next (senior Reggae Girlz) cycle. So having this level of exposure is really good for them and Jamaica’s football," Gilbert noted.
“I think we should be able to give a good account of ourselves, the teams, especially Mexico will be taking their strongest units so I think that will be our toughest test. Of course, Colombia, El Salvador and Puerto Rico, will have a strong unit as well and are quality opponents. But we remain focused on what it is that we want to accomplish, and I am sure we will have much to be pleased about at the end of the Games," he ended.
Squad: Andrene Smith, Chris- Ann Chambers, Dannique Wilson, Davia Richards, Destiny Powell, Katie Oakley, Kersha Thomas, Lauren Reid, Logan McFadden, Maliah Atkins, Mikayla Dayes, Malika Dayes, Mireya Grey, Natoya Atkinson, Olufolasade Adamolekun, Shaneil Buckley, Shanhaine Nelson, Sheyenne Bonnick, Sydoney Clarke, Theanna Burnett
Sherdon Cowan is a five-time award-winning journalist with 10 years' experience covering sports.
Cooper sacked by Leicester after winless run
Leicester City have dismissed manager Steve Cooper after a run of four Premier League games without a win.
Cooper, who previously managed Leicester's rivals Nottingham Forest, only took charge of the Foxes for 15 games in all competitions.
He was appointed in June, after Enzo Maresca left to join Chelsea following Leicester's promotion back to the Premier League.
After going six league games without a win at the start of the season, Cooper appeared to have steadied the ship with victories over Bournemouth and Southampton.
However, a winless streak of four top-flight matches, in which Leicester lost to Forest, Manchester United and Chelsea, while drawing with Ipswich Town, has seen Cooper lose his position.
In a statement released on Sunday, Leicester confirmed Cooper's assistants Alan Tate and Steve Rands had also left the club, with Ben Dawson set to take charge until a replacement is appointed.
Former Brighton and Chelsea boss Graham Potter was reportedly in talks to join Leicester prior to Cooper's appointment in the summer.
The Foxes are 16th in the Premier League on 10 points after 12 games.
Southampton 2-3 Liverpool: Salah brace sends Reds eight points clear
Liverpool went eight points clear at the top of the Premier League as they came from behind to seal a thrilling 3-2 victory over Southampton at St Mary's.
Two second-half goals from Mohamed Salah turned Sunday's game on its head after Mateus Fernandes had given bottom club Southampton a surprise 2-1 lead.
Dominik Szoboszlai had given Liverpool a 30th-minute lead by curling home via the far post after Flynn Downes' dreadful clearance landed at his feet inside the area.
However, the outstanding Tyler Dibling was felled by Andrew Robertson for a Southampton penalty on the stroke of half-time. Adam Armstrong's spot-kick was repelled by Caoimhin Kelleher, but the striker kept his nerve to tuck home the equaliser.
Armstrong then turned provider when Fernandes swept home Southampton's second in the 56th minute, but their lead would not last.
Salah cushioned a searching Ryan Gravenberch pass beyond a stranded Alex McCarthy for 2-2 in the 65th minute, then saw his inswinging cross handled by Southampton substitute Yukinari Sugawara seven minutes from time.
The Egyptian scored what proved to be the winner from the resulting penalty, and he almost got a hat-trick when he crashed a shot off the base of the post in the 88th minute.
Southampton remain bottom of the table, five points adrift of 17th-placed Wolves. Liverpool, meanwhile, are sitting pretty ahead of next week’s meeting with Manchester City, who were routed 4-0 by Tottenham on Saturday.
Data Debrief: Salah helps Slot into history books
Despite a lacklustre defensive performance, Liverpool earned their 10th victory in 12 Premier League games this season (one draw, one defeat), thanks primarily to Salah's quality in attack.
Salah has become the first Liverpool player to score in five successive Premier League games since the Egyptian himself did so in seven straight matches in October 2021.
His penalty, meanwhile, was his 100th goal away from Anfield for the Reds across all competitions.
Slot has now joined former Chelsea bosses Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti as the fastest managers to reach 10 Premier League wins upon their arrival in the division.
Chelsea shake off fatigue against Man Utd to extend winning run
Chelsea had to overcome fatigue, and survive a late scare, to beat Manchester United 1-0 in the Women's Super League on Sunday.
Guru Reiten's 17th-minute penalty proved decisive at Kingsmeadow in a rearranged fixture that was postponed earlier in the campaign due to Chelsea's Champions League exploits.
United came close to ending Sonia Bompastor's remarkable winning run and keeping their unbeaten start going when Melvine Malard's effort clattered the crossbar, but Chelsea escaped unscathed to move five points clear of Manchester City at the top.
The Blues are just the second team in WSL history to win their first eight games of a season, after Arsenal in 2018-19.
And Bompastor was particularly pleased with how her team, who mustered 2.1 expected goals (xG) to United's 0.2, shrugged off the tiredness to get the job done.
"I think it was a tough game today, we were expecting that," Bompastor told the media, as reported by the Press Association.
"United do not concede a lot of goals so we knew they were coming with a good defensive organisation, and we had to have a really good game with the ball.
"Especially with the wind today, it was difficult for us to build and to play more, so I am just a bit disappointed at the fact we couldn't play more.
"Sometimes the most important thing is to get the three points, especially because we have been in a run playing five games in two weeks. I think the players are a little bit fatigued as well."
Chelsea have now won 11 consecutive WSL matches, which is their longest-ever winning run in the competition. The last team to have a longer winning run in the competition were Man City last season between November and April (14 in a row).
Maika Hamano and Sjoeke Nusken had early opportunities for the Blues, before Mayra Ramirez was brought down by United's Phallon Tullis-Joyce, who was unable to keep out Reiten's composed spot-kick.
Reiten has now netted six goals in her eight WSL appearances this term.
Johanna Rytting Kaneryd wasted a good chance to put Chelsea further in front, when she elected to shoot rather than pass and her effort was blocked by Maya Le Tissier.
That profligacy might have proved costly in stoppage time, but the woodwork came to Chelsea's rescue after Malard got a shot off following a neat bit of skill to evade Millie Bright.
"Chelsea are the best team in the country, they're the champions for a reason. We said we would give everything from the off and the players have given everything," said United boss Marc Skinner, who was without injured striker Elisabeth Terland.
"Both teams had to play the conditions, but the pride I feel for the team and their commitment to what we're doing, and know we can do, I'm proud of their performance. For us it was about being calculated and always opening up more in the second half, we changed shape in the last 15 minutes to really give an attacking threat.
"We opened up, Chelsea took a few more opportunities. You have to balance the game, you go toe-to-toe with Chelsea and they probably win against most teams."
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