Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz readiness will be severely tested when they tackle the United States of America (USA) in an International Friendly at the Energizer Park, St Louis, Missouri, tonight at 7 o’clock.

This will be just the sixth meeting between the two teams, with the Americans winning all five games by four goals or more. Their first meeting was in 1994 with the USA winning 10-0.

In their most recent meeting, the USA emerged 5-0 victors in the 2022 Concacaf Championship group stage.

This will be a litmus test for a Jamaican team ranked 40^th in the world as they take on the number one-ranked country without their talismanic leader, Khadijah Shaw.

Assistant coach Deon Burton, who will lead the charge in the absence of Hugh Busby, said the team is looking well.

“We’ve done the best that we can to prepare them in this period of time. We’ve had, and I think, a lot of information and hard work has gone in. So, it’s credit to the girls in this short period. We’re looking forward to the game,” said Burton. “It’s always good whenever the girls are getting good encounters, and not just playing for playing’s sake. The US are former World Cup winners, they would have had a mixed tour recently.”

The Reggae Girlz have taken on some top teams like France and South Africa and will face USA and England as they continue their rigorous World Cup Qualifying preparation.

The opposition that we’ve been playing recently and the calibre of them shows that we’re privileged to be able to play them and be asked to play them in certain situations, and to put our wits against top-quality opponents,” Burton pointed out.

The Jamaican team will be selected from Sydney Schneider, Liya Brooks, Serena Mensah, Allyson Swaby, Konya Plummer, Chantelle Swaby, Vyan Sampson, Naya Cardoza, Nyema Ingleton, Solai Washington, Amelia Van Zanten, Olufolasade Adamoluken, Atlanta Primus, Deneisha Blackwood, Kayla McKenna, Reanna Blades, Shania Hayles, Shaniel Buckley, Kameron Simmonds, Kalyssa Van Zanten, Jody Brown, Tiffany Cameron and Natasha Thomas.

Legendary US centreback Becky Sauerbrunn, will be honoured before kickoff in her hometown.

Sauerbrunn retired at the end of 2024 after a 16-year career, which included two FIFA Women’s World Cup championships and an Olympic gold medal in 2012.