Blaine

With little over month to go before the start of the CONCACAF Under-20 female final World Cup qualifiers, Vin Blaine, head coach of Jamaica's junior Reggae Girlz, said they have intensified their preparations ahead of the tournament.

The final round CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers will be held in Guatemala City, starting on Thursday, January 20.

"Things have been going well because we are working on our speed of play and ball possession, which I think will be critical in this round of qualifiers," said Blaine in an interview with The Gleaner following his team's lengthy training session at the Edward Seaga Sports Complex on Wednesday.

"The tactical work will begin towards the final two weeks when we gather all our players together, and then we will also be able do the things that I think we need to do to help us qualify," Blaine said.

No international friendlies

Blaine added that his team's preparations would not be hampered by the lack of international friendly matches ahead of the tournament.

"These girls are confident because they are preparing themselves for this, but we now have to do the work to get them to play at their best," he said.

Jamaica will oppose the United States in their opening Group B match of the qualifiers on Thursday, January 20.

The junior Reggae Girlz will face Mexico in the second game on January 23, and two days later, they will battle Caribbean rivals Trinidad and Tobago.

Blaine noted that they are aiming to get a positive result against USA, which will help to boost their confidence for their remaining fixtures in the competition.

"The USA are the number-one team in the region and this will be a good game for us to start with because it will help to get the nervousness out of the girls for the rest of the competition," said Blaine.

"I think if we get a good result against the USA, it will definitely help their confidence going forward in the competition," he said. "I believe we can qualify for the World Cup, regardless of who we are playing against, because we fear no one."

'I believe we can qualify for the World Cup, regardless of who we are playing against, because we fear no one.'