National women's senior team coach Jamaal Shabazz is happy Trinidad and Tobago earned silver at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games, but feels that with a little more teamwork and fitness, the senior Soca Princesses could have come away with the gold.
The runners-up finish is the best by a T&T women's team in a competition outside of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) tournaments.
The Soca Princesses will now focus on preparing for the CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament which will be held in Mexico in late October. The Gold Cup, last held in the USA in 2006, is the region's premier women's football competition and also a qualifier for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Venezuela (13 points) played unbeaten at the CAC Games tournament to earn gold, with T&T (9 points) finishing second and Guatemala (7 points) third. Haiti (7 points), Puerto Rico (5 points) and Nicaragua (1 point) were the other teams in the tournament, which was held in Merida, Venezuela.
The CAC Games women's football tournament was originally scheduled for Puerto Rico but was cancelled when CONCACAF revealed that they were not satisfied with the facilities. But Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez agreed to host the tournament in the high altitude city of Merida.
T&T arrived in Merida at 3.30 a.m. on the morning of the first match against Nicaragua and went on to win the game 4-0.
During the tournament, T&T won three matches, beating Nicaragua, Guatemala (3-2) and Puerto Rico (3-2) . However, the Soca Princesses suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of eventual champions Venezuela, and in their final match, on Sunday, fell 1-0 to Caribbean rivals Haiti , who were trying to bag bronze, but lost out on goal difference to Guatemala.
Shabazz said the gold medal depended largely on the Venezuela match.
"I think we should have at least drawn the second match which we lost 1-0 to Venezuela. We trashed Nicaragua 4-0, but all the other teams struggled to beat them. We did not push ourselves enough against Venezuela and that was the game we had to win to get the gold."
Shabazz praised defender Ayana Russell, midfielder Nadia James, goalkeeper Kimika Forbes, striker Kennya Cordner, the tournament's leading scorer with four goals, Avanell Issaac, and under-20 midfielder Karyn "Baby" Forbes, who proved she is "ready for senior international football".
"Karyn scored two important goals but settled into left back and left midfield positions very well, and these are two positions that have caused problems for us over the years.
Though she is right footed, her ability to kick with both feet made her a huge asset, and she also showed good tactical discipline and fighting spirit. Avanell showed good promise in this tournament. Her new attitude was reflected in the work she put in, and I think she is now really focused. With her ability, once she continues to work hard she will be an asset."
Shabazz's team also included midfielder Tasha St. Louis, who played in her first international tournament since returning to the national team after a two-year absence due to childbirth, and captain Maylee Attin-Johnson, who missed the earlier matches due to injury but scored an 88th minute winner against Guatemala which guaranteed T&T CAC Games silver.