Guatemala women footballers advance

GUATEMALA CITY: Guate-mala joined five other teams, including Caribbean sides Trinidad and Tobago and Haiti, in the CONCACAF Women’s Olympic qualifying final round when they topped Series E on Sunday.

Playing at home at the Mateo Flores Stadium in the Series E decider, Guatemala played to a 1-1 draw with Panama and advanced on a superior goal difference. Guatemala and Panama finished level in the triangular — that included Belize — with four points each, but the hosts won the series on a better goal-differential (plus 17 to plus 12). Panama took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Amarelis De Mera just before halftime, but Magnolia Perez notched the equaliser for Guatemala in the 93rd minute.

Guatemala had beaten Belize 18-0 in their earlier game, while Panama stopped Belize 15-2. Guatemala join Canada, Costa Rica, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago and the USA in the eight-team CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Final Round from February 25 to March 7 in San Jose, Costa Rica. The final tournament will qualify two teams to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.  Trinidad and Tobago eliminated Suriname 6-2 in the first round, and Haiti crushed the Dominican Republic 10-2.