The Guyana Senior Women’s National Team will travel to Puerto Rico for two friendly matches and an encampment in October as the squad accelerates its preparations for the initial round of FIFA World Cup qualifiers in November.
The Lady Jags squad will participate in a week-long training camp in the US island territory, arriving on October 18th and departing on October 24th, with practice matches against the hosts, scheduled for October 20th and 23rd.
Guyana has been drawn into Group F of the Concacaf Women Championship qualifiers with Trinidad and Tobago, Nicaragua, Turks and Caicos, and Dominica.
The winner of the group will join the five other qualification group winners and automatic qualifiers Canada and the US at the 2022 Concacaf Women Championship, which acts as the region’s gateway to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
“We are in a tough pool that we must win in order to get to the next round of the World Cup qualifiers,” said Lady Jags Head Coach Ivan Joseph. “There are no easy games moving forward and every goal for and against counts.”
“We are looking forward to the training camp and the exhibition games versus Puerto Rico. The Lady Jags has not been together for over three years, and it will take a while for us to build our style of play and get on the same page in order to give ourselves a chance to succeed.”
Domestic-based players have been in training for several months at the Guyana Football Federation’s National Training Centre in Providence, under the guidance of Domestic Head Coach Akilah Castello.
The squad in Puerto Rico is expected to comprise a mix of Guyana-based talent and players based in North America and Europe.
Guyana kicks off the journey to the FIFA World Cup with a home match against Dominica and an away tie in Turks and Caicos in November. The group will conclude in April 2022.
“The build-up to the Concacaf W qualifiers is an important factor in how successful we will be,” said Paul Beresford, GFF Director of Women’s Programmes. “The friendly matches in Puerto Rico and training are a critical part of the plan and we are fortunate to have the opportunity.”
“I know that the coaching staff and the players have been looking forward to representing Guyana again on the pitch, and I am looking forward to what the team will do during the upcoming campaign,” Beresford said. (GFF)
