Jamaica's struggle for equality and respect at World Cup - ESPN

SYDNEY, Australia — It's been a Women's World Cup where traditionally smaller teams have joined the party to upset their bigger rivals. Nigeria and Colombia have enthralled; Morocco and Philippines have recorded historic results. Jamaica have also been remarkable in drawing 0-0 with France and picking up their first World Cup win over Panama. And, on the eve of their key Group F match against Brazil, Jamaica manager Lorne Donaldson had a message for the footballing world.

«Everyone is looking at these smaller countries,» Donaldson said. «Governments and everybody, cut the bullcrap, it's time to step up and support women's football.» The Reggae Girlz have been one of the great stories of this tournament and are a result away from progressing to the knockout stages at the expense of one of the superpowers of Brazil or France. All this coming just six weeks after they issued a collective statement expressing their frustration at being let down by their federation, a familiar story echoed by Nigeria and South Africa among others.

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As they prepare for a historic night in Melbourne, there's a collective will to make further history.

«The message that we want to send has always been the same, that women's football is legitimate,» centre-back Allyson Swaby said after Panama. «We're here to compete. This is our livelihood. It's the thing that brings us joy, it's our passion. That's really the message, this is the ultimate honour for us and we're also going to be fighting and pushing to be treated like we feel that we should.»

And watching all the way on their journey are their ever-growing number of fans around the