Jamaica and Guatemala play out a hard-fought draw

Kingston, Jamaica: Jamaica’s national senior women’s team were tried at 1-1 at halftime against Guatemala in the Concacaf Women’s Gold Cup Qualifying Group B game. 

The football match was held at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica. 

Glances of the Match

Initially, in the first game, Jamaica was beaten 2-1 by Panama; however, they managed to come from behind to tie up the scores in a game as they were expected to win. 

Leslie Ramirez and Aisha Solorzano secured the lead for Guatemala in the 28th minute; however, Jamaica reassembled to equalise the match in the 32nd minute when Melissa Johnson beat a goalkeeper, Alexia Estrada.

It was marked as the first point for Jamaica after the two qualification games. The cursorily- arranged second-cord team lost 2-1 and was hosted by Panama last Wednesday.

Jamaica placed at the bottom of Group B, three points Guatemala in second and leads Panama on six points. 

Johnson got an opportunity to score the first goal when she headed off a back pass by a Guatemala defender and was on one-on-one with the goalkeeper Alexia Estrada.

Minutes later, Mikayla Dayes pointed at the end of a pass that striped over the Guatemala 18-yard box; however, the moment pulled her shot wide of a goal.

During the stroke of halftime, Dayes was unable to use a chance to drag Jamaica into the lead when she turned exuded inside Guatemala’s 18-yard box. However, she witnessed a powerful left-footed shot which was crashed into the side netting.

Solorzana dribbled past the Jamaican defence with relative ease, scoring an important equalizer. It was witnessed that when the Jamaicans went in search of the winner, Dayes secured a goal after a corner. 

The Jamaican starting team are as follows,

– Goalkeeper Aliyah Morgan 

– Captain Chinyelu Asher

– Lauren Reid

– Malika Dayes

– Johnson 

– Richie Walker

– Davia Richards 

– Zoe Vidaurre

– Mikayla Dayesm Alika Keene

– Marlo Sweatman

The Jamaican Football Federation (JFF) marks that the Reggae Girls have now been paid for their World Cup bonuses after the players qualified for the round of 16 in 2023.