Trinidad and Tobago under-17 women’s football team head coach Ayana Russell has thrown out a challenge to her team to regain the country’s respect in the Concacaf region when they begin their World Cup qualifying campaign at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva on January 27.
TT will host Belize, Honduras and the US Virgin Islands in group B of the first round of the Concacaf qualifiers. The top team in each of the six groups will progress to the next qualifying round, along with the two best second-placed teams. These eight teams will then join the four top-ranked teams Canada, Haiti, Mexico and the US to vie for four qualifying spots for the 2025 Fifa Under-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco from October 17-November 8.
Russell acknowledged the challenge which lies ahead, but said the technical staff and the players are ready to face these challenges head-on. She said the team showed growth in last month’s Jewels of the Caribbean under-20 invitational tournament and are now equipped for this next step.
“We were one point away from qualifying for a Women’s World Cup (in 2014), and when I see the state of women’s football right now, we can’t get past the first round. It’s heartbreaking, so one of the questions that would have been asked to the group is what can you do to change women’s football,” Russell told TT Football Association media, in a video released on January 12.
“And that’s for players, staff and everybody involved to get that respect we had in Concacaf and the Caribbean. We were number one in the Caribbean when I played. That journey is something that inspires me and I’m trying to put back that pride, joy, passion and energy into these girls to really push to qualify for the under-17 World Cup.”
Russell said similarities have been drawn between her current national under-17 group and the group of senior players from the 2015 Women’s World Cup qualifying campaign, which included players such as Kennya Cordner, Arin King, Ahkeela Mollon and Maylee Attin-Johnson.
And while Russell noted the special talent within the national under-17 team, she said teamwork and team cohesion would ultimately be the tools needed to ensure a successful qualifying run.
“The under-17s have been improving in every single game. So for me, it’s just about taking the right steps and not just skipping steps for the (sake of a) tournament, but giving them a foundation which I think we would have built over the last two years in the high-performance programme,” Russell said.
“In this group, we have some special individuals, but we’re pushing teamwork. Every time we play as a team, it’s really something that TT should come on board with now. It’s a group of talented individuals, but the most special thing about them is that they’re starting to gel as a team.”
[caption id="attachment_1132838" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Trinidad and Tobago Football Association technical director Anton Corneal watches on during a training session for TT's under-17 women's football team on January 10. - Photo courtesy TTFA media.[/caption
