Hampton’s Cheyna Matthews will play the biggest soccer match of her life on Tuesday when Jamaica takes on Colombia in the Round of 16 Women’s World Cup at 4 a.m. Tuesday in Adelaide, Australia.
Back home, Cheyna’s mom, Corinia, and dad, Wendell Williams, will be ready after a no-sleep night while wearing their yellow Reggae Girlz jerseys.
In Tennessee, Matthews’ husband, Jordan, and her three boys will be ready.
In Australia, Matthews will definitely be ready, according to Corinia.
“This is the pinnacle, when you get to this level of the World Cup,” Williams said. “As we saw unfortunately for the U.S., that their round stopped in this round of 16, to make us very hopeful that they will be able to go beyond but we’re going to all watch with bated breath.”
Matthews, 29-years old, grew up in Hampton. She attended Lovejoy High and participated in the U.S. Olympic Development Programs before attending Vanderbilt and then Florida State. A forward, she plays professionally for Chicago in the NWSL.
When her grandfather, Deryck, died in 2011, Matthews elected to play for Jamaica because she knew how much it would have meant to him, who was a native of the Caribbean country.
“That was something that he really, really would have loved to have seen her do,” Williams said.
Matthews helped Jamaica debut in the 2019 World Cup in France. She made her World Cup debut against Brazil in Grenoble. Jamaica failed to advance out of the group stage.
The team, which also features Atlanta’s Solai Washington, learned from that experience and applied that knowledge to the ongoing tournament in Australia and New Zealand. Jamaica tied heavily favored France 0-0 in its opening game, which was watched by her parents who hosted a party at the same house Matthews grew up in. Jamaica followed with a 1-0 win against Panama then tied Brazil 0-0 to knock out the South American power and set up Tuesday’s pinnacle. Matthews played in the first three games, starting two.
Williams said Matthews has stayed in touch with them and her husband, NFL player Jordan Matthews, and three young sons, Josiah, Lionel and Cairo, in Tennessee.
She last spoke to her parents Sunday morning, Matthews’ evening on the other side of the world. They are planning to talk again Monday. Tuesday ... well, everyone’s focus will be on the most important match in Jamaica’s history.
Williams said Matthews said the team feels good. It’s focused.
“We’re hopeful that Jamaica can do something different, because they’ve already managed to pretty much shock the world,” Williams said. “They’ve had the time to prepare, mentally and physically. They’re raring to go.”
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