The face and the cross. The day and the night. Brazil and Jamaica lived the two sides of the same coin. Jamaica made history and qualified for the round of 16 of a World Cup for the first time, but did so at the expense of the Canarinha, eliminated in the group stage for the first time in 28 years.
The most bitter farewell for Marta Vieira, who says goodbye to the national team after having played in six World Cups and having become the top scorer of all time, with 17 goals. “There will be no more World Cups for Marta. For me, it’s the end of the road. This moment is difficult, it was not what I dreamed of even in the worst nightmare, ”she confessed, trying to hold back her tears. An image that contrasted with the overflowing joy of the Reggae Girlz, who couldn’t believe what they had just achieved.
Only nine years ago the women’s team did not even exist, it had been dissolved due to the lack of support from its federation. Until Cedella Marley, daughter of the legendary Bob Marley, appeared and brought the Reggae Girlz back to life. And all thanks to a brochure. Her son Skip came home one day with a pamphlet he had been given at school. In it, the Jamaican soccer players asked for financial help to cover the team’s expenses. Until then, Cedella didn’t even know that Jamaica had a women’s team. “I made a few calls to see what was going on and realized that more than a $10 or $15 donation was needed,” she explained.
It moved land, sea and air. He created a foundation, Football is freedom, to raise funds and even wrote a song with his brothers Damian and Stephen, Strike Hard, to publicize the team. He managed to get 50,000 euros that were used to pay the coach, the kits, travel… Despite all this effort, they failed to qualify for the 2015 World Cup and the team dissolved a year later. But Cedella did not give up and continued to believe in them. “I don’t want any girl to have to give up her dreams because she’s a woman,” she said.
In 2019 they became the first Caribbean country to access a World Cup. Yesterday, they wrote a new chapter in the growing history of this team, sneaking into the round of 16 and reaffirming themselves as one of the revelations of the tournament.
With a team made up mostly of players born outside of Jamaica, eleven of them are from the United States, they have been able to exploit their weapons to perfection. The main one, a defensive solidity that has allowed them to keep a clean sheet throughout the group stage, something that only two other teams have achieved: Japan and Switzerland.
After years of hardship, the Reggae Girlz don’t want to wake up from their World Cup dream. Today they will meet their rival in the round of 16, surely Colombia. Meanwhile, Brazil returns home and Marta will not wear the canarinha again. Despite this sad farewell, O rainha left through the front door. She melted into an emotional hug with the Jamaican star Khadija Shawn and sent a message to the world: “Keep supporting them because for them it is the beginning. For me, it is the end, ”she sentenced.
