Reggae Girlz face Cuba today with no preparation

Jamaica's Reggae Girlz will virtually have no preparation going into their first 2020 Concacaf/Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Group A Women's Olympic first round qualifiers at the National Stadium against Cuba this evening at 6:30 p.m.

Assistant coach Lorne Donaldson says he had to wait for who is available before they could move forward.

Donaldson, who will oversee the team in the absence of head coach, Hue Menzies, who is not due to arrive until October 2, said that they may have to start the tournament without some key players who were not released from their schools and clubs for the first game.

Donaldson said that this being a FIFA sanctioned competition, he expects the sport's governing body to make special arrangement for countries to have their best players available.

"It's a FIFA date," he said. "I don't know if there are any discrepancies with a tournament or a 'one game,' but some of the players have not been released."

Jamaica defeated Cuba 6-1 and 9-0 the last two times they played, but Donaldson says he expects things to be different this time around.

"Every game is different," he said. "I don't know what Cuba has and I can't use the last two games to judge that.

"Whatever they have will be different, their players are different, our players are different, so we have to come ready to play. Players are going to be a bit tired, so the work can't be heavy and the focus has to be on team tactics and team organisation," he said.

The qualifiers are set for September 30 to October 8. Jamaica will face off against Cuba, St Lucia, Barbados and th

e US Virgin Islands. The group winners will move on to the Concacaf final round.