“We have to win,” said Guyana Women’s National Senior Team captain and central defender Kayla De Souza, at a virtual pre-match press conference yesterday morning.

“A win is something we need to do not just to advance in the tournament but for the legacy of the programme, to move forward,” De Souza said.

Guyana faces Trinidad and Tobago at the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Bacolet from 6:00 pm today with a CONCACAF W Championship spot up for grabs. The Women Soca Warriors need only a draw to top their group.

For the ‘Lady Jags’, it’s win or go home.

At 32, De Souza thinks the 2022 CONCACAF tournament will represent her last chance to play at this level, and she is not ready for the adventure to end just yet.

Born and bred in Canada, De Souza takes her inspiration from northern Caribbean nation Jamaica and their qualification for the France 2019 Fifa Women’s World Cup. However improbable it might seem, she dreams of getting to the 2023 World Cup, which is co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

Trinidad and Tobago, captained by Tobagonian utility player Karyn ‘Baby’ Forbes, stand in their way.

“Me being an older player and looking at this the end of my career, I want to move forward,” said De Souza. “I am not ready to go home; I am not ready to call it quits… I have no issue saying that.”

From a certain vantage point, today’s W Championship qualifier might be the most important women’s football match to be played in the Twin Island Republic since the Women Soca Warriors were edged 1-0 by Ecuador on 3 December 2014, at a 2015 Fifa World Cup playoff contest in front of over 20,000 fans at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain.

Joseph, the vice-president of student affairs at Wilfrid Laurier University (Canada) and a motivational speaker and author, was born in Georgetown but migrated to Canada at the age of five.

Most of his roster made the opposite journey.

Nineteen of Guyana’s 23-member squad, including De Souza, were born in North America or Britain while their starting team that drew goalless with Nicaragua last Friday had eight Canada-born players and three from the United States.

De Souza, who debuted for the Lady Jags in 2009 when their FA first turned to foreign players en masse, said the domestic game has grown a lot since then and pointed to attacker Annalisa Vincent and defender Tiandi Smith as two home-grown players who are treasured members of their set-up.

Vincent, who came off the bench against Nicaragua, now studies at Graceland University in Iowa.

De Souza suggested that the impact of the foreign-born Guyanese contingent aided the development of players like the young attacker.

Joseph, who works for the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) on a volunteer basis, insisted that his commitment to Guyana does not end with the final whistle, regardless of the result.

The Lady Jags might not have conceded a single goal in competition so far—and their 32-year-old Iceland-based goalkeeper, Chanté Sandiford, has previous UEFA Champions League experience. But even a clean sheet today will not be enough.

Trinidad and Tobago have a strong defensive spine that comprises goalkeeper Kimika Forbes, defenders Victoria Swift and Rhea Belgrave, combative midfielders Lauryn Hutchinson and Amaya Ellis, along with buccaneering full-backs Kedie Johnson, Liana Hinds and Shadi Cecily Stoute.

Guyana, remember, cannot afford to draw.

Ironically, Guyana got to Tobago a full 24 hours before the T&T team and will have slightly more time to prepare for the match, although Jones tried to nullify this by resting several key players against Turks and Caicos including James, Belgrave, Swift, Ellis and Kimika.

A motivational speaker by profession, Joseph confessed that the belief and desire within his camp is so deep that he might just need to keep out of his troops’ way. De Souza suggested as much in her response as to what constitutes a realistic expectation of the Guyana team. (wired868.com)
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