Trinidad and Tobago women’s football squad named for World Cup qualifier

HEAD coach Kenwyne Jones has selected a 22-member TT women’s senior football squad for an upcoming Concacaf Women’s World Cup qualifying match against Nicaragua at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain, at 3 pm, on Thursday.

On Saturday, a TTFA media release said, “Members of the TT’s women’s senior team selected for the upcoming Concacaf Women’s World Cup qualifying match against Nicaragua have begun assembling for their residential camp at the TTFA Home of Football in Couva.”

The first set of players selected by Jones checked into the facility on Friday with some of the overseas-based players completing arrivals in the coming days.

“We’re very excited for the start of the World Cup qualifiers for 2023. Everyone is looking forward to settling into the camp and getting the best possible preparation over the next few days ahead of Thursday’s match,” Jones said.

“I am definitely looking forward to working with this group of players and seeing how we can go about achieving what we set out to.”

US-based defender Lauryn Hutchinson, who arrived in camp on Saturday night, also expressed her anticipation ahead of Thursday’s encounter.

“I’m extremely excited to start our World Cup campaign. This will be the third time representing the beautiful TT in a Women’s World Cup campaign and I couldn’t be more up for it than now,” Hutchinson said on Saturday.

“I think it’s important that we lean on each other in terms of coming together as one. I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity to represent my country, my team and all the women out here. This means so much to us and we are also very excited to be returning to the Hasely Crawford Stadium to begin our campaign.

“I know all of my teammates are also looking forward to putting in the work and following the directions of coach Kenwyne and the rest of the staff in order to get the best possible start which is a victory on Thursday,” she added.

The Nicaragua team is scheduled to arrive in Trinidad on Tuesday.

Teams have been drawn into six groups of five and will play two home and two away matches in a single round-robin format. The six group winners will advance to the final tournament.

The 2022 Concacaf W Championship will be the 11th edition of the tournament, the quadrennial international women’s football championship contested by the senior women’s national teams of the member associations of Concacaf. Eight teams will play in the tournament, which is scheduled to take place from July 4-20 in Mexico.

The tournament will serve as the Concacaf qualifiers to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, as well as for the football tournament at the 2024 Summer Olympics in France. The top two teams of each group will qualify for the World Cup, while the third-placed teams from each group will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs. In addition, the winners will qualify for the Olympics and the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup, while the second and third-placed teams will advance to the Concacaf Olympic play-off.

TT SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Kimika Forbes, Tenesha Palmer, Klil Kheswar

Defenders: Abishai Guy, Rhea Belgrave, Shaunalee Govia, Victoria Swift, Meyah Romeo, Lauryn Hutchinson

Midfielders: Shani Nakhid-Schuster, Kaydeen Jack, Liana Hinds, Amaya Ellis, Asha James, Chelcy Ralph, Karyn Forbes, Kedie Johnson,

Forwards: Raenah Campbell, Dennecia Prince, Cayla McFarlane, Maya Matouk, Maria-Frances Serrant