DESPITE thrashing St Kitts and Nevis 8-0 in their opening game, Guyana’s senior National Women’s team will not be taking the Cubans lightly when the two sides meet today in Group Four of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) leg of the Olympic Qualifiers. 

Otesha Charles’ hat-trick (23rd, 25th and 46th minutes), followed by a goal each from Mariam El-Masri (52nd), Kayla De Souza (65th), Alison Heydorn (85th), Calaigh Copeland (77th) and Olivia Gonsalves (87th) propelled the Guyanese women to an easy win but now, a clash against group favourites Cuba stands between coach Mark Rodrigues’ side and the next round.
Based on the result of the first game, a victory against the Cubans will solidify the Lady Jags’ entry into the next round of the qualifiers since only one team will advance.
As much as coach Rodrigues was pleased with the result of the game against St Kitts, he made it clear that his focus has already moved to the team’s next game today against Cuba, while trying to get the players to recover and to address what they need to work on to improve their performance.
This is not the first time the two countries are meeting. In fact, it was at the expense of the Cubans that Guyana qualified for the 2010 Gold Cup in Mexico, after winning a home (0–1) and away (3–1) playoff to become the first Guyanese team to feature at the Gold Cup – the pinnacle of CONCACAF football.