Guyana’s Lady Jaguars are confident of a strong showing in the first round of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Qualifiers, after being drawn in group-F Saturday.
Additionally head coach, Ivan Joseph and his assistant Akilah Castello are also upbeat ahead of the upcoming qualifiers.
“While they have not played since 2018, the senior women’s team is looking forward to their opening round games to build on the momentum from the U20 tournament results,” said head coach Joseph.
“We have a lot of preparation to do in order to be ready for the opening round games against Dominica as well as Turks and Caicos. We will approach our goal of qualifying for the tournament one step at a time,” he added.
“Our number one priority is to select our team from a quality pool and have a team camp in early fall prior to our opening home and away stanza. We have been waiting for this tournament for over three years. Our women feel like we have something to prove and won’t be satisfied with anything but our best effort.”
Assistant coach, Castello, who currently
supervises the local contingent, noted, “It’s a tough group with some challenging teams in it, but we’ve been doing a lot of work at the NTC with the girls and they’ll certainly be well prepared for the games.”
Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Technical Director Ian Greenwood said the association would soon launch a national women’s programme.
“We’re excited about the launch of the new senior women’s national team competitions schedule for 2021 through 2024, which will give our Lady Jags a platform to excel in the new Concacaf women’s ecosystem,” he said. Guyana, who are ranked 88th, and was initially placed in pot-1, will compete against Caribbean heavyweight Trinidad and Tobago, Nicaragua, Dominica and Turks and Caicos.
Group-A comprises Mexico, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Antigua and Barbuda and Anguilla, while Group-B contains Costa Rica, Guatemala, St. Kitts and Nevis, US Virgin Islands and Curacao.
Group-C is made up of Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Bermuda, Grenada and Cayman Islands, while group-D features Panama, El Salvador, Barbados, Belize and Aruba. Group-E consists of Haiti, Cuba, Honduras, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and British Virgin Islands. The matches are scheduled to be staged in the November 2021 and April 2022 international windows.
Upon the conclusion of the round-robin stage, the resulting group winners will progress to the second round of the FIFA qualifiers, as well as seal their berths to the Concacaf W Championship, which is scheduled for June 2022
National female player, Lady Jaguar International Kayla de Souza said, “I am excited to see the teams we’ve been grouped with for the first round. Each of these nations will bring different challenges, and I feel with the group we have this will be a great test to help prepare us for the next phase of qualifiers.”
She added, “Dominica and Turks and Caicos are nations that will give us a challenge right from the start. These two games will allow us to grow as a team as we prepare to face the likes of Trinidad and Tobago later on our qualifying journey. I am confident with the leadership of our staff and veterans, mixed with our up and coming talent, we will be able to find the right solutions to perform.” De Souza’s teammate Lakeisha Pearson, said, “I think we got a fairly good group, but we have to ensure we win our first two matches. Nicaragua will be a tough match, but I believe we can come out on top because we’ll have a chance to see them play before our match, so we’ll have a good game plan.”
