Trinidad and Tobago’s Senior Women’s Team will open their 2018 account with a pair of International Friendlies against Panama’s Senior Women’s Team on March 22nd and 24th.
The opening match will be played at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva from 6:30pm and two days later both teams will meet again at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella from 4:00pm.
This will be the first set of games for the hosts this year as they prepare for upcoming CONCACAF Caribbean Women’s Senior World Cup qualifying action which commences in May for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France. Details on the qualifying campaign will be disclosed in due course.
The team has been in training for well over a year with regular training sessions taking place involving home-based players who are under retainer contracts with the TTFA.
Team manager Jinelle James said the two matches were highly welcomed as the squad, under captain Tasha St Louis, is craving the opportunity to have international match practice.
“The ladies have been in training for practically a year now and the last matches we played were against Venezuela under Carolina Morace. They’re saying finally we have this chance now to take the field for international football. There is a real buzz in the squad about this at the moment,” James told TTFA Media on Wednesday.
“The team has been working hard and getting stronger and this is a great opportunity for us to see where we are at tactically and in terms of fitness. We are going into the upcoming tournament in May as the number one team in the Caribbean from the 2014 Campaign. This definitely points to the fact that we have no intentions of taking any phase of this competition lightly,” James added.
Skipper St Louis is expecting the two games against Panama to be decent exercises for the T&T team.
“I think it’s good that we are getting the opportunity to play these two games and it isn’t just not any ordinary games but against a developing team such as Panama which we’ve not played before. It should be a good test and a good opportunity to see what this other Concacaf opponent has to offer before the qualification begins later this year,” St Louis said.
“I think it’s also good for the coach o see players in the new system that we’ve been practising and new players under him for the first time. It means a lot for the more senior players like me and also the younger ones that started training after the Under 20 Tournament,” she added.
The current squad is in training under head coach Jamaal Shabazz with technical director Anton Corneal also providing his guidance in the preparations.
The Senior Men’s team will also be in action around a similar period as they travel to face Guadeloupe on March 20th followed by another friendly away to Martinique on March 23rd. Over the past few days, the TTFA also secured two matches in Guadeloupe for the National Men’s Under 20 Team in May.
Ticket information for the two matches in March, T&T versus Panama, will be announced in due course.