With still one remaining match left on the schedule, National Under 17 Women’s Team head coach Even Pellerud says the long trip to South Korea has paid dividends to the Trinidad and Tobago’s preparations for the FIFA Under 17 World Cup in September.
With the three-match series squared at one apiece, Pellerud will no doubt be hoping for a positive performance and result when T&T meets the Korean Republic Under 17 National Team from 3pm (2am T&T time) at the Paju national football center on Friday. But as to whether his team has benefitted as he hoped on tour so far, Pellerud seems contented thus far.
“The team chemistry has been outstanding in this camp and that’s a big plus at this stage,” Pellerud told TTFF Media on the eve of Friday’s encounter.
“Again the exposure to play teams of this high quality is number one for us. Learning to compete, learning to fight for each and every ball and being mentally tough on the field is always necessary and we are getting better in these areas. We have gathered a lot of experience and knowledge to this point,” Pellerud added.
But the previous 4-1 defeat to the Koreans hurt the T&T team captained by Camille Borneo and Pellerud is glad his girls were able to have that kind of experience, particularly where they were able to undergo the post match recovery process only among themselves in a team camp and without the luxury of comfort that may usually be afforded to them back home.
“The team has reached a stage where it is no longer pleased when we play a game and lose, even if we play well and so we were not a happy gang the night after the last game. Too many players were still happy with the first win and it affected us in the second game. This will change because they understand the situation better now. I expect even more sacrifice and consistency now. We are preparing to compete even harder now and I expect them to be hurt sufficiently to trigger a strong comeback attitude on game day.”
As to the progress he has seen in the team’s play, the ex-Canada coach explained:
“We had a goal to become even better at consistent defending as a team as saw a bit of during the 4Nation tournament. And we aimed to become more creative in the attacking third. In the 4-1 loss our midfield really struggled to maintain balance and could not match the opponents and that make it really difficult for our back four. But in terms of attack, we have indeed seen improvement with better crosses in the box, more chances and more goals coming our way.”
While some of the overseas-based players were not in the squad for this trip, Pellerud added that he has seen a few on the trip that have fitted in well so far but others who still need to lift their level of play.
“Some of the new players are talented enough to go straight into our first team but there are others who also need a lot of work in terms of general game understanding and how to adapt to a higher level of intensity. Many of them are coming out of football environments which are not very demanding in terms of tactical awareness but this is something we are working on improving,” Pellerud concluded.