T&T’s U-20 Soca Princesses must secure at least a draw against USA today, or preferably a win, if they are to have any hope of making it to the semifinal round of the Concacaf Final Round Tournament currently being held in Guatemala.
The local lasses will go into the match as underdogs, and a win or even a draw against football powerhouse US, will be a task beyond measure. Thankfully though, they will be lead by their inspirational skipper, Mariah Shade, who was injured in the first match against Mexico after a collision while going up for a header.
T&T was edged 2-1by the Mexicans on Thursday, after gaining an early lead through Natasha St Louis in the first minute. It seemed to be a case of first match jitters, as the usually solid defensive team, struggled to maintain its composure and allowed its Mexican counterpart to easily thread its way into the 18-yard box.
The loss put T&T in a tough spot, taking into consideration the Americans gusty 6-0 win over Jamaica in the second match of the double-header on Thursday. T&T will be hoping for an improved performance against the US and at the same time praying that Jamaica upset Mexico in the other encounter.
T&T head coach Jamaal Shabaaz, following a recovery training session in Guatemala City yesterday, said it was no secret that the Soca Princesses will be the underdogs against the Americans but added that they were up for the challenge, knowing fully well that they need to pull off their best performance to date in the qualifying campaign.
“We go into this USA game knowing full well that they are a superior opponent but our performance in this one is much more important than the result,” Shabazz said. “I think we owe it to the entire T&T women's programme to do as Maximus Dan says ‘fight with all our might’, we need to give the USA 90 minutes of red, black and white.’ It is all that we can ask of them against the USA,” he said.