–  Guyana to open campaign against Nicaragua on February 23

DR Ivan Joseph, Head Coach of Guyana’s National Women’s U-20 team, yesterday announced his final roster for his up-coming FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Qualifiers in The Dominican Republic.

Guyana has been placed in Group D with Mexico, Nicaragua and Puerto Rico. With all of their matches slated for the Olimpico Felix Sánchez stadium, Guyana will kick things off against Nicaragua on Sunday, February 23, from 19:00 hrs.

The Guyanese women will return to action on Tuesday, February 25th against Puerto Rico at 16:00 hrs. They will then wrap up their group stage matches against CONCACAF powerhouse, Mexico, on Thursday, February 27, at 19:00 hrs.

The final squad includes several debutants including Goalkeeper Raven Edwards-Dowdall, Midfielder Shanice Alfred, Forward Makayla Rudder and Defender Anaya Johnson. These four players join a contingent of players who helped Guyana qualify for the U-20 CONCACAF Championship for the first time in Guyana’s history.

Siacy Adams (Foxy Ladies), Shamaya Daniels (Fruta Conquerors) and Tiandi Smith (Fruta Conquerors) are the only locally-based players on the squad which is made up of players who are predominantly from the USA and Canadian collegiate.

The progress made by the women’s programme has been notable with the U-20 and U-17 teams both advancing to the CONCACAF Championships. Guyana’s U-20s begin their group matches on the 23rd of February against Nicaragua and are looking to have a strong enough showing to advance out of the group stages.

“The coaching staff and players have been hard at work preparing for the upcoming CONCACAF women’s under-20 championships,” said Coach Ivan when asked to comment on the team’s preparations so far.

“It is our hope that we will make our country and all our fans proud of our effort and commitment on the field. Mexico, Nicaragua, and Puerto Rico are all formidable opponents in our opening Group D round-robin pool. All three teams are ranked ahead of us in our pool with Mexico leading the way as the number two-ranked team in the tournament. We will need to play at our very best and hope to get a bounce or two in our direction to advance to the next round,” Joseph added.

In an invited comment, Paul Beresford, International Director of Women’s Programs, said much has been achieved since the relaunch of the women’s programme in 2017, “With the support of the GFF, we have seen significant progress in women’s football since the programme’s relaunch in 2017. From the senior team to the U-15s, the women’s teams continue to make history. Additionally, we have seen excellent progress as we develop our young Guyana-based players who face very real obstacles to their development.”

According to CONCACAF, the 2020 CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship will kick off with an initial group stage among 16 teams.

After round-robin play, the top three teams in each of the groups will advance to the knockout stage, joining the four qualifiers winners – Guyana, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Grenada. All knockout round matches (round of 16, quarterfinal, semifinal and final) will be played in a single match elimination format, with the finalist and the third-place match winner qualifying to the FIFA Women’s U-20 World Cup 2020.

THE SQUAD: (Goalkeepers) Raven Edwards-Dowdall and Aneesa O’Brien. (Defenders) Brianne Desa, Jade Vyfhuis, Jessica Myers, Sydney Puddiecombe, Hailey David and Anaya Johnson. (Midfield) Siacy Adams, Kiana Khedoo, Serena Mc Donald, Jenea Knight, Audrey Narine, Tori DeNobrega, Shamaya Daniels and Samantha Banfield. (Forwards) Nailah Rowe, Tiandi Smith, Shanice Alfred and Makayla Rudder.