Trinidad and Tobago’s women’s football team coach Randy Waldrum was pleased with his team’s effort in the goalless draw against Ecuador, a result which he said has given his charges renewed confidence ahead of the December 2 return-leg of the FIFA World Cup playoff contest.
Speaking about the result at the Estadio Olimpico Atahualpa in Quito, Waldrum said: “I think they feel really positive about it as well. I think any athlete and competitor wants to win and I think we all knew the importance of getting at least a point out of the game and in doing that, the mood of the camp is really good.
“Mr (Raymond) Tim Kee showed up and had a chance to visit with the team after the game and I think they were very appreciative of that and they were very excited that he came to support the team. They feel real good about it and they are smart foot ballers so they understand how the home and away leg works. They understand you need to get at least a point to put yourself in the good position at home and that is what we were able to do,” the coach added.
The team returns today and Waldrum is already planning for the return-leg which will be played at sea level at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain. Improving the players’ fitness and conditioning will be key, the coach explained, as he outlined his plan for success.
“We’ve got a strength and conditioning coach so we are going to send the players back to spend ten days mainly working on fitness and conditioning,” said Waldrum.
“I think that will be the right way to move forward, to make sure we maintain and even improve our fitness level,” he added.
The coach is also looking forward to having his entire 22-member team together on the November 24 to start a nine-day camp ahead of the all-important final match of their qualifying campaign for next year’s Women’s World Cup in Canada.
“The plan is to come in on the 24th and bring all the players in, including the college players. All 22 players will come in on the 24th and that will give us about nine days to prepare for the game on the December 2. This will be really the first time we will have the entire group together for training,” the coach pointed out.
“They are very pleased and extremely confident and excited about getting back hopefully in front of a packed stadium. That is the thing they kept talking about. We are hoping we get all of Trinidad and Tobago coming out to support us as well.
Waldrum also believes a full stadium will give his team an extra boost for the match. “I think everybody is generally looking forward and we hope all the fans turn up. That’s going to be huge. That gives you the added lift and that kind of gives you that 12th player so we just encourage all our fans to get out in droves and bring all the music and all the energy and help us win this game on the 2nd.