Under-20 women footballers get ready

The final will be a round-robin affair, featuring Jamaica, Suriname, Haiti and hosts Trinidad and Tobago, from November 13-17.

Matches will be contested as double-headers, on November 13, 15 and 17, at the Larry Gomes Stadium in Arima.

TT coach Jamaal Shabazz stated that the national squad will be finalised either today or tomorrow, following a practice match against W Connection’s Under-15 boys team.

Concerning the state of the national outfit, Shabazz said: "We’ve not been getting the match practice that we want but we’re making do with what we have.

"We’re a little bit lost in the World Cup (Journey to Germany) fervour but we’re trying to keep our eyes focused on our own "World Cup" which is the Under-20 qualifying from the Caribbean stage to the CONCACAF stage which will be played in January next year," he added.

The top three teams from the CFU quadrangular tournament, as well as the winners of two Central American triangulars (hosts Panama, Honduras and Nicaragua from November 9-13 and hosts Guatemala, Costa Rica and El Salvador from November 22-26) will advance to an eight-team CONCACAF Final Round Qualification.

The event will take place with Mexico and will also involve Canada and the United States, with the top three teams advancing to the 2006 FIFA Women’s Under-20 World Championship in Russia.

Concerning the teams Trinidad and Tobago will be facing in the CFU contest, Shabazz stated: "We know a bit about each one of them. Jamaica, Haiti and Suriname, we’ve played against them already," he continued. "Jamaica has always been rough and tough, very physical, very athletic, similar(ly) Haiti and Suriname are always good technical teams."

The long-standing women’s team coach was quick to point out that: "We’re trying to ensure that fitness is one area that we’ve improved on this time around. We’re going to give it our best shot."

The team held training sessions at the Larry Gomes Stadium but Shabazz noted, "we’ve been affected by the schools league and the women’s league so we’ve just been having two sessions a week at times.

"But we’re going to have a one-week camp prior to the tournament which the foreign-based players are expected to join at that time," he added. "And, from there, we’ll put it all together."