T&T "Soca Princesses" will come up against El Salavdor in their opening match of Group A, on day two of the Concacaf Under-17 Women’s Qualifying Championship at the Marvin Lee Stadium, Macoya, from 7 pm tonight.
In the opening match which kicks off two hours earlier, group favourites, USA will come up against Costa Rica.
The eight-team tournament kicked off yesterday in Tobago at the Dwight Yorke Stadium, Bacolet, with Puerto Rico meeting Canada in the first match followed by Jamaica versus Mexico in Group B.
The group matches will conclude on Tuesday after which the top two teams will advance to the semifinals to be played on July 24 at Macoya.
The semifinal winners will automatically qualify for the Finals in New Zealand and will also meet in the Concacaf final on June 27, while the third place winner will also qualify for New Zealand.
Teams that have already qualified for the finals includes host New Zealand (Oceania), Korea DPR, Japan and Korea Republic (Asia), Nigeria, Cameroon/Ghana (Africa), Colombia, Paraguay, Brazil (South America) and France, England, Denmark and Germany (Europe).
Coached by experienced American, Randy Waldrum, the Mariah Shade led T&T team concluded their perparations for the El Salvador match with a late session at the match venue.
Looking ahead to the tournament, Waldrum and his team which comprises 14 North American-based players, nine from the USA and five from Canada, are very confident of their chances of reaching New Zealand.
"I think the whole staff is very excited about the final squad. It's been a long process preparing this team as we’ve been here for three months looking at the local talent and then also scouting what was available overseas as well,” Waldrum said.
"It's a good blend of foreign and local players and the group has developed a very good chemistry which we’ve worked hard on over the period. We have some key players in this squad and I’m very pleased with the final squad we’ve come up with."
Waldrum emphasised the fact that this tournament will be first for all the competing teams.
"It's new to everybody so it’s just not us alone who will be going into this type of international competition for the first time. Of course you have the favourites like USA and Canada but their current players will also be experiencing international qualifying competition for a first time," Waldrum said.
