Why Jamaica's 'Reggae Girlz' are the biggest revelation of the World Cup

The Jamaican women's soccer team are playing its second-ever World Cup and things could not be going better. After leaving one of the great favorites of the tournament, Brazil, on the street, they have reached the round of 16, where they will face Colombia. Whatever happens, they have already made history, especially knowing where they come from and the moving story behind them.

It's not been a smooth run behind the scenes and the Jamaican women's national team has faced a number of adversities, including long periods of inactivity due to lack of sponsorship and other difficulties. In fact, between 2010 and 2014 they didn't even have a FIFA ranking.

That is until the “Reggae Girlz”, as they are known around the world, received the fundamental support of Cedella Marley – daughter of the Jamaican reggae singer, Bob Marley.

Despite being more linked to music and fashion, Cedella Marley is already considered the great savior of the women's soccer team. A hero to the Jamaican people.

In an interview with 'The Washington Post', Marley said: "It was really unfair that girls were treated this way, just because some people believe that football is a man's game."

It all started when Cedella's son, Skip Marley, still a toddler, came home from school with a flyer asking his parents for a cash donation to "resurrect" the Jamaican women's soccer team.

At the time, the team needed help in all areas, from travel to maintaining the training grounds. So Marley mobilized to raise funds.

Bob Marley's daughter and her brothers recorded a song together called 'Strike Hard' and all proceeds went to the Jamaican women's team.

In parallel, the NGO Bob Marley Foundation, led by Marley, raised nearly $300,000 in one year for the Reggae Girlz. Marley went from being a sponsor to an ambassador for the team.

Time passed and, in 2016, the team dissolved again. That's when Marley joined forces, again, and set out for a cultural shift. The objective was not only to improve the conditions of the athletes, but also to give more visibility to women's football.

Looking to change the mentality and culture around the sport, Marley created "Football is Freedom", an initiative to support and value sport as a whole.

Despite all of Cedella Marley's efforts, the team still had to overcome barriers and deal with serious salary issues and budget cuts. In order to participate in the World Cup, they even had to crowdfund online.

Although FIFA offers cash compensation to the teams that participate in the World Cup, the money goes directly to the federations.

Soccer has always been a part of Cedella Marley's life, since her father, Bob Marley, was a lover of sports, in general, and soccer in particular. Over the course of his career, he stated that if it weren't for music, he would certainly have been a footballer.

(Photo: Playback/Instagram)

Cedella Marley told CNN: "My father played soccer every day, wherever he was: along the way, he found a field, a team. Sometimes it was the photographers, sometimes it was the journalists.”

In the interview, she recalled: “Ziggy and Stephen also played football growing up, and that was always something I loved. I love to kick a ball around and I was super competitive when my brothers challenged me."

At the moment, the 'Reggae Girlz' are reciprocating the energy and passion from their country on the pitch. On Tuesday August 8, in Melbourne, they will face Linda Caicedo's Colombia in what is expected to be highly charged fixture. With everything to play for and nothing to lose, the Reggae Girlz will be hoping to add to their already history-making run.