Jamaal Shabazz, coach of the Trinidad and Tobago Under-20 women’s football team, is pleased to see the growth of the squad, during their recent Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Preliminary Round Group “B” play-offs against St Lucia.
“I thought the players showed that they’re starting to adjust to the new style brought in by Mr (Even) Pellerud (the team’s technical director), which is trying to play more direct, trying to play forward more, trying to play faster and more aggressive, and attacking the ball in the air,” he said.
Shabazz continued, “You can see times that it’s starting to happen with regards for us.”
Comparing the two games, Shabazz noted, “They packed their defence a lot (in the second game), playing a 5-4-1 (system).
“It was very difficult for us to break down because, in a situation like that, playing direct would not solve it,” added the TT coach. “And we had to open them up more by the wings, which we did in the second half. And we started to get the room to get the ball to come across the goal.
“I thought the big difference (in the second game) was that the St Lucian team played smarter and were much more compact defensively.”
Trinidad and Tobago will now focus their attention on the CFU Final Round Qualifiers, which will be held here from November 18-22, alongside Group “A” winners Jamaica, Group “C” table-toppers Cuba and the victorious team in Group “D” St Kitts/Nevis.
The top three teams, from the CFU Finals, will progress to the CONCACAF Finals in Guatemala from January 16-28.
After the CONCACAF Finals, the top three teams will be booking their spots to the 2010 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Germany.
Concerning the plans of the TT technical staff, between now and November, Shabazz stated that the squad was back in training but “we intend to invite ten of the foreign-based players to join the programme, one week before, and we expect to have our best possible squad for the encounters.”