View: Jamaica make a point as Tottenham Women star Rebecca Spencer calls for change
Tottenham Women’s goalkeeper Rebecca Spencer has been immovable between the sticks as Jamaica have been making history at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The Reggae Girlz have advanced to the knock-out stages for the first time ever during their second appearance at a Women’s World Cup.
When they played at the competition in 2019, they lost all three group games and scored just one goal while conceding 12 times. In 2023, the progress has been phenomenal as they are yet to concede and qualified from Group F unbeaten.
Although still scoring just once, the 1-0 win and two 0-0 draws were enough to see the 43rd-ranked nation finish second in the group, above Brazil, who are ranked eighth in the world.
And it appears as if the squad’s motivation to succeed has been fueled by the desire to prove a point, after a chaotic build-up to the competition Down Under, highlighted by an open dispute with their football federation over a lack of support in general as well as in the lead-up to the World Cup.
“Obviously we fight a constant battle,” Spencer said, as reported by the Jamaica Observer (3 August).
“The better we do, the more pressure it creates (on the Jamaica Federation). We hope that they’re looking at us and taking us seriously now, which they should have been doing, and they can give us what we deserve out of everything.”
The Federation failed to organise any friendly matches for the squad to help them prepare and this was one of the biggest issues amid the ongoing disagreements.
“Obviously with the noise that was going on outside of us playing and the lack of matches that we had leading into the tournament, I don’t think anyone took us seriously,” the 32-year-old said.
“Like I said, as players and staff, we know that we’ve got a real togetherness and a family feel within our group. We were resilient.”
Jamaica are certainly proving those that doubted them wrong, with Spencer and Spurs midfielder Drew Spence both playing a key part in their successes so far.
They will have a chance to once again make history when they face Colombia in the last 16 on Tuesday 8 August.
In other Tottenham news, the men’s team are set to announce the signing of a new striker who will need to adapt to life in England.