U-20 Soca Princesses in must-win match

T&T Under-20 Soca Princesses find themselves in the very unfamiliar position of a must win match when they face Guyana from 11 am today in their second match of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Women’s Under-20 Second Round Tournament at the Estadio Pedro Marrero Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba. Three hours later, host Cuba will tackle Puerto Rico in the other Group F match.

 

On Saturday, the Soca Princesses, were stunned 1–0 by Puerto Rico after conceding a second-half goal. Defender Abigail Jacob had to leave the field with a first-half injury and striker Janelle Mc Gee was shown a red card in the second-half. Speaking after the match, coach Marlon Charles  said his players did not play to their potential. “In the first-half our team did not mark close enough and we were a bit disorganised,” Charles said. “Puerto Rico was more aggressive and won every ball they contested. In attack we were not connecting right and poor technique resulted in poor passing of the ball. 

“In the second-half, we put up a much better fight but some players just did not rise to the challenge,” Charles said. 

Guyana was also beaten on Saturday, 5–1, by the Cubans.

 

In the final round of matches tomorrow, Guyana faces Puerto Rico and T&T meets Cuba from 4 pm. In Group E which is being played at the Estadio Pan Americano San Cristobal, San Cristobal, Dominican Republic, Haiti edged Jamaica 1–0 on Friday with Roseord Borgella the scorer while the host and Cayman Islands drew goalless. Yesterday, Cayman Islands met Jamaica and Dominican Republic came up against Haiti. At the end of the two round-robin groups, the top teams will each qualify for the Concacaf  Under-20 Women’s Championship along with the best runner-up. Panama and Guatemala have already qualified from Central America along with automatic qualifiers Canada, Mexico and USA for the Concacaf Finals to be contested next year. 

 

Remaining fixtures