Venezuela defeat TT women 2-0

The South Americans atoned for a 5-0 trouncing they suffered on the hands of the hosts on Sunday, with items from Gabriela Garcia in the 37th minute and Carla Carvalho in the 90th.

Trinidad and Tobago captain and veteran striker Maylee Attin-Johnson, speaking in an interview on the TT Football Association (TTFA) website, admitted that the national team stand a good chance of progressing, from the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Final Round Qualifiers next month, to the CONCACAF Finals in the United States later this year and the subsequent 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada.

“We have a job to do and we as footballers just have to go out and play football and represent the country to the best of our ability,” she said. “I know that qualifying for the next Women’s World Cup is something we really want to achieve and now it’s time to focus all our energies into that ambition.”

Reflecting on the two matches against Venezuela, Attin-Johnson noted, “there are things we still need to work on especially our match fitness. It showed out there that we hadn’t played a friendly in a long time. There are some other minor details that I know the new coach (American Randy Waldrum) will work out.

“But we need to become more consistent and that’s where the training camp in Houston will help us leading up to the tournament,” Attin-Johnson added.

With regards to Waldrum’s appointment, the 28-year-old said, “the only constant thing in life is change and I think the programme needed a change, needed an injection…needed new life and if Randy Waldrum is the person to help do that then we are all opened to it.

“We have a camp in Houston for an entire month and over two years we were not able to get something like that so this augurs well for us at this time. We are going into the camp with an open mind and an open heart and we will be professional about the entire situation. We are going to be in a professional environment which is needed for a lot of us and I know we are going to give everything we have.”

Waldrum replaced Marlon Charles as the coach last week, but the TTFA confirmed that Charles, who was initially irked about his firing, returns to the fold as Waldrum’s assistant.

“Marlon has been with us for a very long time and both him and Jamaal Shabazz have done a good job to bring the programme to where it is now and I think change is needed for us to cross a next hurdle,” Attin- Johnson said.