Jamaica, in crisis with the federation, advances in the Cup with crowdfunding online – 02/08/2023 – Sport

Rebecca Spencer, 32, was still euphoric for having blocked the attack of another team in the Women’s World Cup when she vented this Wednesday (2).

“Those above us don’t believe in us and they always put us in situations we don’t want to go through, but that gives us more energy to do well,” said the Jamaican goalkeeper, named player of the match in the goalless draw with the Brazilian national team. , in Melbourne, Australia.

It was the third time that no opponent managed to break Spencer’s goal at the Worlds. This time, the result, in addition to eliminating Brazil from the competition already in the group stage, classified the Jamaicans to the round of 16.

The undefeated campaign, with five points added in Group F, comes amid a crisis between the players and the local federation.

In June, on the eve of the Cup, the athletes of the team known as “Reggae Girlz” published an open letter on social networks to complain about the planning for the dispute of the tournament in Oceania. In the text, they stated that the structure offered by the entity was “below average”.

The situation motivated Solaun’s mother, Sandra Phillips-Brower, to create a crowdfunding online to raise funds for female training.

“A trip to Australia in July 2023 is an expensive journey and my intention is to allow both the coaching staff and the players to focus on the competition, raising funds to cover some of the costs of this incredible adventure,” Sandra wrote.

So far, the campaign has raised US$55,000 (R$264,000). The goal is to reach US$ 100 thousand (R$ 481 thousand).

In Australia and New Zealand, Jamaica plays in the Women’s World Cup for the second time in its history. The first was in 2019, in France, when the Caribbean team also fell in the group of Brazil, when they did not pass the first phase.

This time, they advanced to the round of 16 thanks to the victory over Panama (1 to 0) and the goalless draws against France and Brazil.

The opponent in the knockout will be the leader of Group H, whose definition will take place this Thursday (3). Colombia, Germany and Morocco are in the running for the first position in the bracket.