Head Coach optimistic about Women’s U-17 preparation

“Preparation has been going great. Over the past eight weeks, we were able to work on the different aspects of the game and have seen great improvement from the girls.”

The words of Akilah Castello, Head Coach of the National Under-17 Women’s team, as the countdown to the 2020 Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Championship first-round Qualifiers in Curacao from August 17-25 continues.

Castello said the 20-person squad will comprise eight international-based players and 12 from the 17-person Guyana-based squad in training four days a week at the GFF’s National Training Centre.

The Head Coach expressed her optimism about Guyana’s performance at the qualifiers.

“We are expecting positive results from this group along with our international-based players who’ve been preparing as well for this U-17 girls’ competition. We have some good talent in the likes of Jalade Trim, Shamya Daniels, Samantha Banfield, who played in the last U-15 championship, and Janea Knight who also played both in the U-15 and U-20 levels who, we believe, will seek to make valuable contributions at this level.”

Guyana has been placed in Group D along with the Bahamas, Curacao and St. Vincent and The Grenadines, and is scheduled to play on the following days at the Stadion Ergilio Hato Willemstad:

MATCH 1: August 21– Curacao vs Guyana at 20:30h

MATCH 2: August 23– St. Vincent and The Grenadines vs Guyana at 18:00h

MATCH 3: August 25– Guyana vs The Bahamas at 17:00h

According to Concacaf, there will be 32 participating teams. The qualifiers comprise the lowest-ranked 16 teams, based on the Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Ranking as of July 2018, where the top-finisher of each group will advance to the knock-out stage of the championship.

These teams are: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bonaire, Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica, Guyana, Honduras, Martinique, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and US Virgin Islands.

The remaining 16 teams, consisting of top-ranked teams, based on the Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Ranking as of July 2018, will participate in the Finals Championship.

Each has been placed in four groups – E, F, G and H – and will play round-robin following which “the top three finishers in each of the groups will join the winners of Groups A, B, C and D (from the qualifiers) in the round of 16,” according to Concacaf.

“The 16 teams participating in the group stage of the Final Championship are (in alphabetical order): Bermuda, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States.

The knockout stage of the competition – round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final – will be played in its entirety in a single match elimination format, with the finalists and third place finisher automatically qualifying for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2020.”