THE first leg of the CONCACAF Under-17 female World Cup qualifiers gets under way with the junior Lady Jaguars side going head-to-head with Curacao in their Group C match today at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) ground from 15:30hrs.
Yesterday, a press briefing with representatives from the two sides was held at the office of the Georgetown Football Federation (GFF) where no representative of the third team in the group, Anguilla, was present because they are scheduled to arrive today.
Anguilla will oppose Curacao on Friday at the Uitvlugt Ground at 15:30hrs while Guyana will clash with Anguilla on Sunday, August 21, at the same venue from 15:30hrs also.
At the  briefing, assistant coach of the Curacao team, Urwin Sille, stated that his side will play an offensive game with speed and he believes that there is no job too big or too small for them to undertake and once they meet Guyana it will be displayed.
Playing the 3-3-4 formation, Sille said they have been in preparation for the tournament for three months, training thrice a week with players from Holland and Bonaire in their territory.
On the other side of the boat, manager of the Lady Jags, Colin Baker, is also confident of the host team ahead of their battle with the opposition. The mostly local-based team has one foreign-based player; Sarah Vaughn, who currently resides in England.
While the Curacao team comprised girls who have been playing football for about eight months, Guyana’s girls have been playing for just over a year and, from certain parts of the country such as Lethem, the girls have been involved in football for several years.
Five players from the inaugural Scotiabank/Pepsi Schools Football Academy, which was recently concluded, found their way into the Lady Jags side following a good streak of performances.
However, according to acting president of the GFF, Franklin Wilson, while it may be two young sides the main focus on these matches is the development of the players because at such a tender age playing as a complete unit is new to them.