Hood names Provisional Squad to face Mexico
Hood names Provisional Squad to face Mexico
Trinidad and Tobago’s Senior Women’s team head coach Richard Hood has announced a provisional squad that will enter a residential training camp ahead of its closing Concacaf W Road to Gold Cup qualifying group phase against Mexico on December 5th at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain. The match starts at 7:00pm and is the second game of a double header which will see St Vincent/Grenadines face Barbados from 4:00pm.
T&Tcurrently sit at the foot of the three-team League A group with a solitary point, with Mexico (six points) and Puerto Rico (four points) in first and second spots respectively.
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 first-ever staging of the competition.
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.
With the solitary group game left against Mexico, TT’s chances of qualifying for the Gold Cup are thin, as they must defeat the group leaders and also hope for the Mexicans to defeat Puerto Rico by a big margin in their penultimate match on Friday. TT’s goal differential is -7, while Puerto Rico’s goal difference is zero.
The Trinidad and Tobago women got their first point in the qualifiers with a gutsy performance in a goalless stalemate. Rookie Trinidad and Tobago goalkeeper Simone Eligon was rewarded for her fine display in the two matches against Puerto Rico last month, as she was named to the Concacaf Nations League A Best XI for the October window.
Eligon, 23, is one of four goalkeepers named in Hood’s provisional squad.
The squad is led by veteran and team captain Karyn Forbes and includes attackers such as Asha James and Maria-Frances Serrant. Hood has also included the schoolgirl trio of J’Eleisha Alexander, Orielle Martin and her namesake Talia Martin.
Both Alexander and Talia Martin are members of the Scarborough Secondary team which advanced to this year’s Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) Big 5 final and claimed the Tobago girls’ intercol title. Scarborough will play Five Rivers in the Big 5 final on Thursday in Black Rock, Tobago.
Club Sando star forward Alexcia Ali, the scorer of T&T’s only goal in the qualifiers thus far, has been ruled out of the upcoming match, as she has been suspended on two yellow cards.
T&T’s provisional squad:
Goalkeepers: Malaika Dedier, Simone Eligon, K’lil Keshwar, Akyla Walcott.
Defenders: Jonelle Cato, Tamara Johnson, Shauna Lee Govia, Chrissy Mitchell, Crystal Molineaux, Abbigail Moos, Lorall Romain, Victoria Swift, Christa Waterman, Britney Williams.
Midfielders: Arie Bhagan, Sarah De Gannes, Karyn Forbes, Naomie Guerra, Zoe Maxwell, Renee Mike, Chelcy Ralph, Cherina Steele, Kaydeen Jack
Forwards: J’Eleisha Alexander, Asha James, Tsaianne Leander, Orielle Martin, Talia Martin, Tori Paul, Maria-Frances Serrant.
