Tough task for Women Warriors in final Gold Cup qualifier vs Mexico

As his Trinidad and Tobago women’s football team face an improbable task against Mexico in their final Concacaf women’s Gold Cup qualifier at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo, on Tuesday, head coach Richard Hood is calling for more support for the locally based players in the programme.

TT must defeat Mexico by four goals if they are to advance to the preliminary round of the inaugural 2024 Women’s Gold Cup. TT currently sit at the foot of the three-team League A group with one point. Mexico lead the group with a 100 per cent record from their three matches and have rattled in 11 goals in the process. Puerto Rico are in second spot in the group on four points and have a goal difference of -3. The cellar-placed TT team have a -7 goal difference following two defeats and a draw.

Hood’s team now face the unenviable task of defeating a Mexico team that handed them a 6-0 defeat in their opening group match on September 26 in Pachuca.

“At the best of times, it is a difficult task to beat Mexico, much less to beat them by about four clear goals,” Hood told the media on Monday. “For me, it is not necessarily a realistic possibility, but it is a possibility. “We are going to approach the game positively and we are going to try and get a victory. We are asking the girls to be as brave as possible and execute what we have done in training and hopefully, we will get the result we are looking for.”

Hood described the first Mexico outing as a “baptism of fire.” He has since pointed to “incremental improvements” from the Women Warriors. With TT scoring just one goal in their first three matches – via the suspended Alexcia Ali – managing a four-goal win against the 36th-ranked Mexico team will take something extraordinary or miraculous. TT are ranked 75th by Fifa. “We have to follow the game plan. When we have the possibility of attacking, we have to commit. When we are defending as well, the transition moments are going to be critical offensively and defensively.”

Hood expects to see a different women’s team against Mexico this time around, as he says this is the strongest unit he has had for the campaign. “I expect the organisation to be better than our first game against Mexico. I would like to see improvements in the fitness levels as well. “We will not be playing at 8,000 feet altitude this time. That was a factor in the first game. I would like to see more composure and our ability to move the ball offensively and the ability to move and operate collectively as an offensive and defensive unit.”

Hood is looking towards the future with his TT team, and says the schoolgirl pair of J’Eleisha Alexander and Orielle Martin are likely to see minutes depending on the game situation. Alexander, 16, and Martin, 15, were voted among the Secondary Schools Football League’s (SSFL) top five girls players for the 2022 season. Alexander won the MVP award. As he looks beyond this ongoing campaign, Hood says more exposure needs to be given to the local players.

“For this programme to progress, we have to maintain a local base. We have to train continuously to improve the players we have locally.

“We have to make use of the Fifa windows. We could start small by playing Guyana or Grenada and we go from there. Again, we are seeing tremendous improvements in the local players in a very short time. It is critical for us to continue that development as we go forward.”

The top team in each of the three League A groups will qualify for the group stage of the February-March 2024 Concacaf Women’s Gold Cup tournament. The three runners-up in the League A groups will play the three winners of the respective League B groups for a spot in the Gold Cup group stage.

Kick-off is at 7 pm.

TT's squad:

Goalkeepers: Malika Dedier, Simone Eligon, K'lil Keshwar.

Defenders: Jonelle Cato, Tamara Johnson, Shauna Lee Govia, Chrissy Mitchell, Crystal Molineaux, Abbigail Moos, Victoria Swift, Brittney Williams.

Midfielders: Sarah De Gannes, Karyn Forbes, Naomie Guerra, Zoe Maxwell, Renee Mike, Chelcy Ralph.

Forwards: J'Eleisha Alexander, Asha James, Tsaianne Leander, Orielle Martin, Tori Paul, Maria-Frances Serrant.