Reggae Girlz Head coach Lorne Donaldson with players Rebecca Spencer (left) and Deneisha Blackwood.
It was another case of could have and should have for Lorne Donaldson and his senior Reggae Girlz as they were left ruing the substandard performance in a 0-2 defeat to Canada, a blow to their Olympic Games qualification hopes.
A positive start in which they kept Canada at bay gave the Reggae Girlz and the moderate spectator turnout at the National Stadium hope that they could have pulled off a big win.
But when it mattered most, they lacked accuracy in the final third, and that, coupled with amateurish defending at times, resulted in Nichelle Prince (18th) and the menacing Adriana Leon (90+3), putting Canada in the driver’s seat to secure the coveted spot to next year’s Olympic Games in Paris.
While the Bev Priestman-coached reigning Olympic champions will be confident heading into Tuesday's second leg, to be played before a sold-out crowd at BMO Field in Toronto, Donaldson and his team will have to pick up the pieces and get their offensive and defensive shape right in their bid to achieve an improbable win in hostile environment.
“Canada is a team that played like 100 games together. We are a team that is coming together, and we are still searching for some combinations that we think can work. Scoring goals is very difficult. I mean, we haven’t played anybody who is a slouch, so we have to get games that are winnable games for us that we can start building and building.
“But it doesn’t come easy when you play teams like Canada, France, and Brazil among others, but hopefully we can find a way to get through this situation and start scoring some more goals,” Donaldson said in his post-game press conference.
Reflecting on the performance, Donaldson pointed out that he had nothing to be satisfied with, especially in a loss where the team’s execution fell below expectations.
The Girlz throughout the contest, had some half chances fall to Cheyna Matthews, Jody Brown, Tiffany Cameron and Konya Plummer, in the latter stages. From a defensive perspective, the score could have been much wider in Canada’s favour had it not been for some excellent work from goalkeeper Rebecca Spencer.
“We had a couple of chances, and we didn’t finish them. Canada got their chance, and they finished it. For the first 50 to 60 minutes they [Canadians] were better than us moving the ball around and they did some stuff that really caught us off guard tactically. We made the adjustments but chasing a one-goal lead a lot of time you then gave up another one and that’s what happened,” Donaldson reasoned.
“There’s not a lot of satisfaction when you lose games. We weren’t as good as we should be. Maybe for first 10 or 15 minutes we got two chances that we should have done something better with.
“Canada had one and they finished it and so right there it could have been a big difference. Chasing the game is very difficult at times when you play good teams. Canada are the defending champions and I think we had forgotten that," he added.
With the situation being as it is now, Donaldson like many Reggae Girlz supporters at home and abroad, hope it will serve as added motivation for the players.
Being more committed and focused, the tactician believes will lead to lead to a better second-leg performance, especially as they now have a very specific aim which is to not just win but win by two or more clear goals, if they are to achieve another historic feat of being the first Caribbean team to qualify for women's football at the Olympic Games.
“I think everybody should be okay and ready to go because we have to now go to Canada and change our fortunes and make something happen differently,” Donaldson declared.
Should the Girlz fail to overturn the deficit, they will next be in action against Panama and Guatemala where victories would secure their berth in next year's Concacaf Women's Gold Cup.
Sherdon Cowan is a five-time award-winning journalist with 10 years' experience covering sports.
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Stefano Pioli urges AC Milan to get Serie A title challenge back on track
AC Milan boss Stefano Pioli admitted his side must get their Serie A title challenge back on track with victory in Saturday’s home game against Frosinone.
Just one win in their previous five league matches has seen Milan slip six points behind leaders Inter and four behind second-placed Juventus.
A home Champions League defeat to Borussia Dortmund in midweek left Milan bottom of their group and while they can still qualify for the knockout stages with one game to play, the pressure is mounting on Pioli.
The 58-year-old former Lazio, Inter and Fiorentina head coach told a press conference: “Frosinone are doing very well and have confidence, (Eusebio) Di Francesco is doing a great job.
“They are aggressive, but we know how to cause them problems. We want to win, and we need to. We need points, the league campaign is long.
“As usual, we’ll need to show concentration, determination and quality. We need to show we are still competitive and put in a good performance.”
Milan beat Pioli’s former club Fiorentina 1-0 at the San Siro last week to halt a domestic league run of two draws and two defeats and a slump in form has coincided with a lengthy injury list.
Pioli was without half a dozen key players for Tuesday night’s loss to Dortmund and saw defender Malick Thiaw forced off early in the second half.
Thiaw will not feature against Frosinone and Olivier Giroud is still suspended, while Rafael Leao, Noah Okafor, Pierre Kalulu, Simon Kjaer, Marco Pellegrino and Mattia Caldara are unlikely to feature.
Pioli added: “There are still 25 league games to play. I told the players not to come in on Thursday to Milanello if they didn’t believe we could reach Inter and Juventus.”
Frosinone boss Di Francesco has injury concerns of his own as his 10th-placed side bid to halt their poor away form, with Luca Mazzitelli, Riccardo Marchizza, Pol Lirola, Francesco Gelli and Marco Brescianini all doubtful.
Frosinone’s impressive start to the season after promotion has been built on five wins and a draw in seven home league matches, but they are winless on the road.
Di Francesco told a press conference: “We need to get this obstacle out of our heads. We made the last point (on the road) in Salerno (in September).
“We need to try to approach the away match with the right attitude. Here at home, however, we feel stronger when going to face our opponents. This way of thinking certainly needs to be changed.”
Aston Villa complain to UEFA over ‘shocking behaviour’ of Legia Warsaw fans
Aston Villa have lodged an official complaint with UEFA over the behaviour of Legia Warsaw fans ahead of the Europa Conference League clash at Villa Park.
Almost 50 people were arrested following violence involving the visiting fans prior to kick-off on Thursday night.
Missiles were thrown at police as the Polish supporters were held in a coach park near the ground before they were due to enter the stadium.
West Midlands Police said four officers were injured and, although the game started on time, no Legia fans were allowed in ahead of kick-off.
Villa also accused Legia officials of a “complete lack of cooperation” with themselves, the police and UEFA.
Villa said in a statement: “Aston Villa can confirm it has lodged an official complaint with UEFA over the conduct of Legia Warsaw Football Club and the behaviour of their supporters prior to last night’s UEFA Europa Conference League match at Villa Park.
“Four police officers were injured and 46 Legia supporters arrested after unprecedented violence by the Polish fans outside the stadium.
“This shocking behaviour followed Legia club officials’ complete lack of cooperation with West Midlands Police, Aston Villa and UEFA throughout the day.
“It started during the standard pre-match operational meeting that commenced at 10.30am on Thursday morning and was attended by UEFA representatives, including UEFA’s security team, as well as West Midlands Police including representatives from both clubs.
“Legia Warsaw refused to confirm if they would accept their allocation of tickets for the match at that point. This is in stark contrast to normal UEFA operational procedures.
“They advised the meeting that they would meet with their supporters at 2.30pm and communicate the decision at 3pm, but advised there was a possibility that they would not accept the tickets.
“Despite repeated requests before and after the 3pm deadline for a decision, there was no communication until 4pm when Legia informed Aston Villa that they wished to receive their ticket allocation.
“These tickets were handed to Legia officials immediately upon their arrival at the stadium at 6.16pm. To reiterate, Legia officials were advised on a call that included a number of UEFA representatives on November 2 that they would receive an allocation of 1,002 – exactly four weeks prior to last night’s fixture.”
Chris Heck, president of business operations at Villa, said: “The lack of cooperation and prevarication from Legia Warsaw officials prior to the match was entirely unacceptable and deeply disappointing.
“This behaviour increased the danger that West Midlands Police officers and our own fans were subjected to before the game and the scenes of disorder from the Legia fans have no place in modern football or civilised society.
“Aston Villa will be making further representations to UEFA in order to ensure that other clubs and police forces across Europe are not exposed to similar serious safety risks at the hands of Legia Warsaw.
“We are immensely grateful to West Midlands Police for keeping our supporters and our local community safe last night and are pleased that they will also be making their own representations via the UK police authorities to UEFA.”
West Midlands Police chief inspector Tim Robinson said on Thursday evening: “This should have been a great evening of football which was enjoyed by fans from both clubs.
“Unfortunately, there were appalling scenes which saw away fans dangerously throw flares and other missiles at our officers.”
He said the “extreme violence” left police with no other choice but to prevent away fans entering the stadium, adding: “The safety of everyone is our priority, and clearly we had no other option.”
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