For T&T's team, qualifying for Canada 2015 is not just an attainable goal but an achievement that is sure to energise and inspire women's football across the region. This team deserves nothing less than full national support as they continue their quest for World Cup glory.
In their quest to qualify for the 2015 Women's World Cup, T&T's Soca Princesses have proven to be a spirited and resolute team. Although on the losing end of qualifying games against higher-ranked Costa Rica and Mexico teams on Friday and Sunday, the dream is still alive for this country's most successful women's football team.Up next for the Soca Princesses is a home-away series against Ecuador, the third-placed team in the South American qualifiers, to determine who goes on to the coveted tournament.While Ecuador will have home advantage for the first encounter on November 8, the T&T women should meet a jam-packed stadium for the return leg on December 2.
Full support is what they need at this crucial stage after the major challenges they faced–financial and otherwise–in the lead-up to the qualifiers in the United States earlier this month. The players arrived in the United States for training with no equipment and only about US$500, prompting coach Randy Waldrum to go on Twitter to plead for financial assistance.They overcame those adversities and did extremely well, holding their own against Concacaf giants the United States, then putting up strong resistance to much more experienced Costa Rica and Mexico in the playoff matches. In fact, Mexico needed all of 120 minutes plus stoppage to overcome the Soca Princesses and book their spot in the World Cup.Even after those consecutive defeats, there is still hope that the team has what it takes to pull off the desired results in the next two games.
Preparations should already be under way, with the search for suitable replacements for injured players and those with other playing commitments who cannot make it to the the next phase.
To prepare for their South American opponents, the Soca Princesses will need a training camp in Ecuador at least a week before the first match to overcome the altitude issues they will encounter in Quito, which is about 9,300 feet above sea level. The team will also do well to take up Mexico's offer of a training facility in Mexico City, at an altitude of about 7,200 feet.The Soca Princesses are now on the verge of repeating the historic achievement of their male counterparts, the Soca Warriors, who in 2005 beat Bahrain 2-1 on aggregate to advance to the 2006 Germany World Cup.
For T&T's team, qualifying for Canada 2015 is not just an attainable goal but an achievement that is sure to energise and inspire women's football across the region.
This team deserves nothing less than full national support as they continue their quest for World Cup glory. All of T&T should get firmly behind skipper Maylee Attin-Johnson and her team for their next two matches.Now is the time, too, for Government and corporate T&T to come forward with funding and other tangible forms of support to ensure the players have all the resources they need over the next couple of weeks as they prepare for this final qualifying bid.