Veteran midfielder Tasha St Louis found the net as Trinidad and Tobago’s women national team continued its preparation for the upcoming Women Caribbean Cup with a 3-0 victory over hosts University of Houston, in a scrimmage match on Saturday.
The Soca Princesses got goals from St Louis, Mariah Shade, and Janelle Magee. The team later had an outing to the Compass Stadium, to view a professional women’s match, in which T&T national team head coach Randy Waldrum’s Houston Dash outfit went down 3-1 to Sky Blue FC.
American-born Waldrum thinks that a week together with the full national team should be enough to see them through to the CONCACAF zone final round of World Cup qualifying.
“Training is going reasonably well, however players continue to trickle in. There are another eight, nine players expected (last Friday),” Waldrum stated in an interview with a US publication. “That provides a week for the near full team to prepare for the start of the tournament.”
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) had originally planned a one-month training camp in Houston, Texas, However, due to several issues, only half of the players arrived on schedule. The final members were due in Houston late last week.
Still, Waldrum feels the preparation will benefit the team greatly. Waldrum expects that the team has enough talent to qualify for the CONCACAF tournament in October. “It is just a matter of whether we can get them all on the same page,” he said. “If we can do that, then we have a good shot because there is a lot of talent there.”
Following the Houston camp, Trinidad and Tobago hosts the Caribbean Football Union Championship from August 19-26 which doubles as World Cup qualifying — the top four teams will qualify for the CONCACAF Championship taking place in the US between October 16-26 where 3 1/2 berths for the 2015 Women’s World Cup will be up for grabs.