Lady Jaguars going all out against St Vincent tomorrow
AFTER witnessing the first match between Suriname and St Vincent and the Grenadines yesterday, Guyana’s Women’s Football Technical Director Mark Rodrigues is of the opinion that the Lady Jaguars will go all the way in their bid to qualify for the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany.
Speaking with the Chronicle Sport at the conclusion of the first ‘Group A’ Women’s World Cup qualifiers in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) zone, Rodrigues was elated in stating “we got this”.
“I have never been so happy in my life and excited, I must say. Looking at today’s game, I was surprised at St Vincent. They are defending well, and they are having good touches and so on, so I think we’ll have a good game on Friday (tomorrow) against them” the Canada-based TD said.
The Guyana team is made up primarily of women who have played at the collegiate levels in the USA and Canada and also six local players were added to what Rodrigues describes as the team to create history.
“I can’t make any promises but what I can do is say that we are ready. We spent the past year and a half or so, working very hard in putting the right set of girls together and I think we have done a good job at it. We have brought in some girls who are a bit better than the ones we had last year in the tournament here and blended them well with the locals to have a solid team,” said Rodrigues.
Also commenting on the Guyanese chances was assistant coach Wayne ‘Wiggy’ Dover, who was tasked with keeping the local short-listed players in training over the past weeks leading up to their match tomorrow.
Dover, who is known more for his success with the senior male football team (Golden Jaguars) was also in high spirit about the ladies advancing from their group.
“Well, like I said before, the girls have meshed pretty well, better than we honestly expected. They have become more like a family and that is what we need at this time, you know. We have to keep the team spirit high so the girls would be happy,” Dover mentioned.
Meanwhile, the team paid a courtesy call yesterday on His Excellency, President Bharrat Jagdeo, and according to Rodrigues they were heartened by the sentiments shared by the Head of State.
“It was nice to hear good words of encouragement from the President. He has offered his fullest support to the girls and also said he will assist in whatever way possible, and honestly, it’s really, really good that he can lead from in front in showing that kind of support to us. So I think this is really working out for us and with that I’m happy because I know how hard we worked initially to get here,” Rodrigues added.
“I would like to thank Sunburst Orange Juice and GT&T for backing us and also recognising and believing that this is a great venture to get behind because, trust me, this bus is going for a long ride. We are going all the way and I want to tell the other businesses to get on board because this is going to be a long ride, a very long ride. Take the opportunity and catch it before it leaves you behind,” Rodrigues noted.
Guyana will begin their journey to Germany tomorrow against St Vincent, who would want to make some grounds after falling 1-0 to Suriname, yesterday.