JAMAICA'S UNDER-20 women's football team yesterday zoomed in on a semi-final berth in the CONCACAF zone World Champion-ships qualifiers after a 3-1 win over El Salvador in Mexico.The Vin Blaine-coached girls scored three goals in an eight-minute second-half blitz. Kenesha Reid opened with a well-taken shot in the 50th minute. Omolyn Davis struck two minutes later with a freekick from 25 yards while Kimmia Parker beat the goalkeeper from long range in the 58th minute.
El Salvador's lone score came from a 64th minute penalty.
The win pushed Jamaica back in contention for one of the three available spots in Russia this summer. Following Thursday's crushing 4-1 loss to the United States, Jamaica needed to win yesterday to stand a chance of advancing.
SHOT IN THE ARM
"The loss against the U.S. seemed to be the shot in the arm we wanted," Blaine said.
"We played with so much purpose. El Salvador came out defending and in a way, we fell into their trap in the first half, but we came out and turned things around in the second ... My goalie handled the ball only once, the penalty," noted Blaine.
Jamaica tackle Suriname tomorrow in the final round game. Blaine has conceded that the U.S. are going to emerge Group B winners, but he has promised that his team will finish second.
CONFIDENT
"We are definitely getting to the semi-finals. I am very confident of that. The only thing that can prevent us reaching the semi-finals is if we lose to Suriname and that can't happen," he said.
The U.S., Mexico and Canada have both secured their semi-final berths and Jamaica need only a draw tomorrow to do likewise.
Three teams from CONCACAF will advance to the FIFA Under-20 World Cup Finals. When this final qualifying round ends tomorrow, the two group winners and runners-up will advance to the semi-final round from which the finalists and third-place team advance as CONCACAF representatives in the World Championship.
