[ad_1]
With the help of the daughter of the latest reggae legend Bob Marley, the team – the first of the Caribbean to qualify for the final – is ready to compete for the Holy Grail of this sport.
Before traveling to France, the Reggae Girlz gave his fans something to celebrate with a 3 to 1 victory over Panama at the National Stadium in Kingston on May 19th.
The conviviality was only part of the day, which turned into a colorful Sunday party with vuvuzelas and explosive dancehall music.
But the festivities have not masked the difficult task ahead: the Reggae Girlz occupy only the 53rd place in the FIFA rankings and, on paper, they are clearly the lowest group of the table.
Players are certainly aware of their humble origin: the display board and the defective audio system of the stadium symbolize their position. in terms of the best teams in the world.
But women are used to facing adversity – until the day before the friendship with Panama, they were not even paid by their federation of origin.
"It's a milestone – they deserve it – obviously it took the World Cup to get to that point but we managed," said head coach Hue Menzies, who helped women negotiate their contracts, told AFP.
"We had boxing gloves", Added Menzies.
The Reggae Girlz are a young team composed mainly of players who competed at the university level in the United States.
On a Friday in mid-May, they embark on a practice without Menzies, who will discuss with the federation on their behalf. They play on a lot of a university campus in Kingston far too dry and covered with divots.
Players carry their own water and equipment on the ground from the bus. It's far from what awaits them in France.
– They needed help & # 39; –
In qualifying for the World Cup, the Reggae Girlz have duplicated the feat achieved in 1998 by Reggae Boyz, who went to the Men's World Cup that year – also in France.
But their way to the tournament was much more difficult.
"Of course (it was more difficult) because we qualified with few resources," said striker Khadija Shaw, 22, one of the team's stars , which would have aroused the interest of French professional clubs.
"Coming from where the women's program it was a few years ago, it's awesome. "
A few years ago, there was simply no program.
After Jamaica failed to qualify for the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, the national federation effectively disbanded the team.
By not playing internationally, the Reggae Girlz collapsed from the FIFA rankings and were finally completely removed from the list in 2011.
Enter Cedella Marley, the daughter of Jamaica's most famous son, who was himself a super fan of the sport. In 2014, the business woman and the singer found sponsors for the team and organized fundraisers.
She breathed new life into the program and became the de facto ambbadador.
In football circles on the island, his name is said with a quasi sacred reverence.
"They needed help, they were women, they were told they could not play a sport they liked, so we got involved and we got there," Marley said. to AFP after a cheering crowd in the friendly against Panama.
The Bob Marley Foundation logo features prominently on the jerseys of the Jamaican team.
– The power of girls –
Menzies has only praise for Marley, noting: "She stung our heads. She's been here since the first day. "
The coach's personal investment in the team, which attracted less media attention, contributed to the survival of Reggae Girlz.
Menzies has activated his network at American universities to help find schools for his players.
"We took players out of Jamaica and placed them in different parts of the world so that they can develop"Said Menzies.
"We have better resources in America and Europe, and that has been good for us, we have gone from negative to positive," he added.
"We did it for more than football, we wanted to change our mentality andhe looks like we are watching women's football and women in sport in general. "
For Cedella Marley, "there is a lot of progress to be made around the world, not just in Jamaica and the Caribbean … we can do what boys do!"
The Reggae Girlz, who are thrilled to be where they are, want to lead by example.
"For the youngest of Jamaica and all the Caribbean, that means a lot because we are the springboard to show them that there is a lot to do, "said team captain, 21-year-old Konya Plummer.
"They can follow their dreams like us and create history".
For the Women's World Cup this time, FIFA has doubled the money allocated to qualified teams, from $ 15 million to $ 30 million.
Last year, for the Men's World Cup, the total was $ 400 million.
[ad_2]
Source link
