Reggae Girlz and Manchester City forward Khadijah Shaw has expressed confidence ahead of the team’s match-up against Bermuda in the opening match of the CONCACAF Women’s Championship on Thursday.
The competition will be the official start of the team’s campaign to qualify for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Despite facing lower-ranked opposition, the team will not be kicking off its journey in ideal circumstances.
Several players who were part of the history-making World Cup squad are unavailable for the fixture due to injury or other reasons. In addition, the team will feature a number of new players and has had limited time to work out its kinks. The situation has given interim coach Vin Blaine plenty of pause for thought, but Shaw remains confident the squad will be capable of racking up positive results in this round.
“Football is a team sport, I trust my teammates. There’s a reason why they are here, and the coach selected them, and I trust the coaching staff as well,” said Shaw, in assessing the situation.
“We have to just come in and understand each other as fast as possible. It’s not ideal right now but I trust my teammates and I really do think we can get the job done despite other players not being here.”
The team will also travel away to face Grenada in the second match of the window.