It took thousands of flying miles and a few extra days, but the Trinidad & Tobago women’s national team will finally get to face the United States on Thursday, when they meet in an international friendly at the Alamodome.
This was supposed to be the second of a two-game series, but Sunday’s opener in faraway Honolulu, Hawaii, was canceled due to field conditions at Aloha Stadium.
T&T has been in San Antonio since Monday and is excited to square off against the current CONCACAF, Olympic and World Cup champion.
“I think we are all very focused even though it’s a friendly, but it’s a great opportunity for us to show ourselves against the best team in the world and that’s big factor for us,” said defender Lauryn Hutchinson, who scored against Costa Rica in the 2014 CONCACAF Women’s Championship (CWC).
The Americans have posted eight wins in as many outings against the Trinidadians. In their last game, however, the U.S. needed an early second-half goal by Abby Wambach to post a narrow 1-0 victory in 2014 CWC group-stage play.
“It’s a great test for us ahead of the Olympic qualifiers and we’ll be looking to do the right things against what is a world class opponent,” said T&T head coach Randy Waldrum, a former U.S. under-23 women’s national team manager. “We know they will be all over us offensively, and they will press the game for sure. So we’ll take a more defensive approach, trying to stay compact and organized.”
Both sides are preparing for the 2016 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship, which will be contested February 10-21 in the Texas cities of Houston and Frisco.