Caribbean Queen's Football Tournament Thread

[Flex]

2024 Queen’s Friendly Tournament.

T&T vs Aruba -
May 29th and June 2nd.

T&T vs  Curaçao -
May 30th and June 3rd.

Head Coach - Richard Hood.

Assistant Coach -  Rajesh Latchoo.

[Tallman]

T&T women set for Caribbean Queen's football tournament with Aruba and Curaçao
By Roneil Walcott (T&T Newsday)

Trinidad and Tobago senior women's football team will get the opportunity to engage in friendly competition when they participate in the three-team Caribbean Queen's tournament in Curaçao from May 28-June 3.

The invitation to the tournament was extended to T&T by the Curaçao Football Federation, with all matches being hosted at the Stadion Rignaal 'Jean' Francisca in Willemstad. Aruba will be the other team involved in the week-long tournament.

Each team will play each other twice, in what will be the senior team's first action since their 2024 Concacaf women's Gold Cup qualifying campaign ended at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo last December.

"The respective member associations have been working together to facilitate the tournament to provide competitive matches for our respective women's teams as there are no Concacaf or Fifa women's competitions this year," a T&T Football Association (TTFA) release said on Friday.

The team will once again be led by former Police FC coach Richard Hood, who will be assisted by TTFA Director of Youth Football and T&T women's Under-17 coach Rajesh Latchoo.

The release said Hood's squad will be a "development team" featuring senior players, members of TTFA's ongoing High Performance programme and standout performers from the 2024 Republic Bank National Youth Football League campaign.

"This tournament is viewed as an ideal opportunity to continue to expose our younger players to a competitive environment," the release said.

The women Soca Warriors will play their first game of the tournament on May 29 against Aruba, before playing hosts Curaçao a day later. After a two-day rest, Hood's team will wrap up the friendly competition with matches on June 2 and 3 respectively.

Last year, the women Soca Warriors finished bottom of their three-team Concacaf women's Gold Cup qualifying group with Mexico and Puerto Rico with a solitary point from four matches.

The T&T women are ranked 75th by Fifa, while Curaçao and Aruba are ranked 179th and 185th respectively.

[Tallman]

Hood names women’s team to play in Curaçao tourney
T&T Express

HEAD COACH Richard Hood has named a 22-woman squad for the Trinidad and Tobago senior women’s football team that will compete in the May 28-June 3 Caribbean Queen’s Friendly Tournament 2024, hosted by the Curaçao Football Federation.

The tournament will see the Women Warriors play two matches each against Aruba and hosts Curaçao. The competition was created to provide the participating teams an opportunity to play this level of football since there will be no CONCACAF or FIFA women’s competitions this year. According to the TTFA web site, the T&T team will feature a developmental team with a mixture of TTFA High Performance Programme and senior players. Trinidad and Tobago National Under-20 and TTFA High Performance player Orielle Martin is a member of the team.

Hood will be assisted by TTFA Director of Youth Football and Women’s U-17 national team coach Rajesh Latchoo.

T&T SQUAD:

GOALKEEPERS- Mikaela Yearwood, Maya Figgener

MIDFIELDERS- Kedie Johnson, Orielle Martin, Rasheda Archer, Tori Paul, Cherina Steele, Mariah Williams, Tayeann Wylie

DEFENDERS- Victoria Swift, Shaunalee Govia, Latiha Pascall, Kaitlyn Darwent, Anastasia O’Brien, Kanika Rodriguez, Ariana Borneo, Chrissy Mitchell, Hackeemar Goodridge

FORWARDS- Alexcia Ali, Talia Martinm Sonia Lamarre, Asha James

HEAD COACH- Richard Hood

[Tallman]

Coach Richard Hood dissatisfied by women's club football
By Enrique Rupert (T&T Newsday)

The Trinidad and Tobago senior women’s football team will compete in the Caribbean Queen’s friendly tournament hosted by Curacao Football Federation from May 28-June 3.

The team left for Curacao on May 24 and will play Aruba on May 29 and June 2 and Curacao on May 30 and June 3.

At a press briefing on May 23 at the La Horquetta Recreation Ground, head coach Richard Hood said, “I’m really happy for the opportunity for the young ladies to participate in international competition, particularly in a year when there’s no (FIFA and Concacaf) tournaments for the senior team.”

Hood also named his 22-member squad for the tournament, which includes 14 teenagers.

Twenty-nine-year-old defender Victoria Swift and 24-year-old midfielder Asha James will be key figures in the team, as they have the most experience. Over a dozen players are poised to make their debuts during the tournament.

Hood looks at this tournament as a way to expose the team in a more “relaxed environment.”

“We’re giving them an opportunity to play in a more relaxed environment without the pressures of having to qualify, to play some of the better teams in Concacaf."

The Women Warriors last played on December 5 against Mexico in a Concacaf Women’s Gold Cup qualifier, losing 1-0.

Newsday asked how the team has improved since the December 5 loss, Hood replied, “I have to be honest; we have not done anything since December 5.

“We have just activated the girls for this tournament and it is my hope that after the tournament that we continue the programme, continue the training with a local group and keep engaging the foreign players as well, so when the international windows come around, we will be prepared.”

With the lack of professional women’s football in T&T, Hood wants to see vast improvements.

“I have my criticisms of the T&T Women's League Football (WOLF). I would like to see teams investing a little more in their clubs and their preparation to play football – they need to play at a higher level and at a faster tempo.

“We lack a professional league, unlike the men. It’s for us to try and create an environment to prepare the girls to play international football. We have to play and train at a higher level.”

Hood hopes that a league such as the 2016 Women's Premier League (WPL) returns, as it was a “fantastic endeavour.”

He wishes women’s football improves in the near future, starting with the developmental programmes for young girls across T&T.

“I think we need to get our girls involved in the game much earlier. We have to pay attention to what we’re doing with them at that level (grassroots).

“In T&T we depend on results and we want to win and not think about development, and it’s something we need to pay much more attention to.”

Last year, the team finished bottom of their three-team Concacaf Women's Gold Cup qualifying group with Mexico and Puerto Rico, with a solitary point from four matches.

In their last eight games, T&T have drawn two, lost six and have not won any matches.

The team’s last win came in 2022 on April 9, as they ran riot against the Turks and Caicos Islands, defeating them 13-0.

The T&T women are ranked 75th by Fifa. Curacao and Aruba are ranked 179th and 185th respectively.

After the press briefing, T&T played Club Sando women’s team and won 1-0 after going ahead within the first ten minutes of the match.


T&T senior women’s team:

Goalkeepers: Mikaela Yearwood, Maya Figgener

Defenders: Victoria Swift, Shaunalee Govia, Latifha Pascall, Kaitlyn Darwent, Anastasia O’Brien, Kanika Rodriguez, Ariana Borneo, Chrissy Mitchell, Hackeemar Goodridge

Midfielders: Kedie Johnson, Orielle Martin, Rasheda Archer, Tori Paul, Cherina Steele, Mariah Williams, Tayeann Wylie

Forwards: Alexcia Ali, Talia Martin, Sonia Lamarre, Asha James

[Tallman]

Women Warriors edge Aruba 2-1 in Queen's Friendly
By Walter Alibery (T&T Guardian)

T&T's Women Warriors got their campaign in the Caribbean Queen's Friendly Football Tournament off to a perfect start, pulling off a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Aruba at the Rignaal Jean Stadium in Curacao Wednesday night.

It was exactly what coach Richard Hood had been hoping for, as he expressed concerns about his players' fitness levels, coupled with a turf surface to which his charges were unaccustomed. Still, with a team stacked with youth and experienced players, the Richard Hood-coached team was competitive at the start, though the Arubans enjoyed the better of the possession earlier on.

But it was the Arubans who drew the first blood in the third minute. Aisse Gombs stormed down the left flank and found captain Soraya Verhoeve to the left of the T&T area. But though being pressured by a couple of defenders, Verhoeve still found room to unleash a thumping shot that sailed over T&T goalkeeper Mikaela Yearwood and into the back post for the 1-0 advantage.

The goal plunged the Arubans into wild celebrations which did not last too long.

A minute later Aruba custodian Bestzile Stampo committed the ultimate sin when she tried to find her defender with a feeble pass across her own goal area, but it was intercepted by striker Tori Paul who only had the privilege of firing the ball into an empty Aruba net for a 1-1 scoreline.

The teams went to the halftime interval with the scores leveled at one apiece and when they returned, Hood's charges looked more purposeful, despite uncomfortable underfoot conditions.

However, they got the winning goal in the 67th minute. Victoria Swift delivered from a right-side corner and overlapping defender Shauna Lee Govia bundled the ball inside, despite feverish attempts by the Aruba defenders to clear it.

The Women Warriors will today face Curacao in their second match of the tournament tonight at 7 pm at the same venue.


Trinidad and Tobago (4-1-4-1): 21.Mikaela Yearwood (GK); 15.Kanika Rodriguez (5.Anastasia O’Brien 78), 8.Victoria Swift (captain), 2.Shaunalee Govia, 4.Kaitlyn Darwent (3.Ariana Borneo 68); 6.Chrissy Mitchell; 7.Alexcia Ali (12.Cherina Steele 78), 10.Asha James, 14.Orielle Martin (19.Talia Martin 59), 20.Ke’die Johnson; 9.Tori Paul.

Unused substitutes: 1.Maya Figgener (GK), 11.Rasheda Archer, 13.Sonia Lamarre, 16.Hackeemar Goodridge, 17.Mariah Williams, 18.Tayeann Wylie.

Coach: Richard Hood

[Tallman]

Trinidad and Tobago beat fatigue, Curacao in Caribbean Queen's football tourney
By Jonathan Ramnanansingh (T&T Newsday)

A “fatigued” Women Warriors defeated hosts Curacao 3-1 to remain unbeaten in the Caribbean Queen's Friendly Tournament which continued at the Stadion Rignaal ‘Jean’ Francisca, Willemstad on May 30.

A goal each from senior team debutants Sonia Lamarre and Cherina Steele in the ninth and 14th minutes respectively gave Trinidad and Tobago a positive start.

Curacao pulled one back in the 45th off a corner kick to halve their deficit heading into half-time.

Twenty minutes into the second period, one of the more experienced T&T players, French-based full-back Kedie Johnson, restored the visitors' two-goal lead to go 3-1 up.

So it remained until the final whistle, as the Women Warriors notched their second win in as many matches, and days, having defeated Aruba 1-0 on May 29.

T&T coach Richard Hood said he was pleased with the result but concerned about the team’s fitness after playing back-to-back matches.

“I am very happy with the result, (but) not so much the football. I thought it was really important we pulled off that victory tonight given the physical condition of the girls.

"We saw tonight where we all struggled. All our senior players particularly struggled having played 90 minutes last evening as well,” he said.

The tie was also contested on the same artificial turf for both matches, “which added to the difficulty,” Hood said.

He still lauded their effort as “tremendous” and added that they showed a lot of resilience “although they were very dead on their legs.”

Hood described the TT’s goals as “three quality goals” and was proud two of his debutants found the back of the net. Curacao, he said, played a tough game.

“The opponents really made it difficult for us by their style of play. They forced us to run really more than we would have liked, played a lot of long diagonal balls trying to get behind, to turn around our defence, and that worked well for them for the most part.

“I’m happy with their determination to win that game tonight, particularly with two youngsters on debut scoring goals.”

Hood’s team has over ten teenagers supported by seasoned campaigners such as Johnson, attacking midfielder Asha James and defender Victoria Swift.

Having utilised a few of the younger players over the past two games, Hood is generally satisfied with what he’s seeing from the next generation.

“The future is really bright for the youngsters – once we do the right things in terms of nurturing them and assisting them with their development and getting them involved in more tournament such as these. All in all, I’m really happy with the effort from the girls.”

Aruba and Curacao will have their second meeting on June 1, and the tournament will conclude on June 3.

Trinidad and Tobago (4-1-4-1): 21.Mikaela Yearwood (GK); 15.Kanika Rodriguez, 8.Victoria Swift (captain), 2.Shaunalee Govia, 3.Ariana Borneo; 6.Chrissy Mitchell (14.Orielle Martin 75); 13.Sonia Lamarre (19.Talia Martin 60), 12.Cherina Steele (7.Alexcia Ali 46), 10.Asha James, 20.Ke’die Johnson; 9.Tori Paul.

Unused substitutes: 1.Maya Figgener (GK), 4.Kaitlyn Darwent, 5.Anastasia O’Brien, 11.Rasheda Archer, 16.Hackeemar Goodridge, 17.Mariah Williams, 18.Tayeann Wylie.

Coach: Richard Hood

[Tallman]

Women Warriors go under to Aruba
By Walter Alibey (T&T Express)

“VERY disappointing”.

That is how Trinidad and Tobago senior women’s national team head coach Richard Hood described his team’s 1-0 defeat to Aruba in their penultimate game of the Caribbean Queen’s Friendly Tournament 2024 at the Stadion Rignaal “Jean” Francisca in Curacao, on Sunday night.

He said the players didn’t stick to their plans in the first half and it cost them in the end. Hood also noted that T&T would have been without two key players for last night’s final game against hosts Curacao.

“Unfortunately, we are in a situation where we have to get a result in order to win the tournament and in addition to that, we have two players who will actually be suspended for tomorrow’s (today’s) game,” Hood revealed.

“One of them, Kedie Johnson, has been a key player for us in the tournament. She received a second yellow card tonight (Sunday) as well as Talia Martin. They will both be out so we will have to make a shift in terms of player positions and some alterations for that game,” the T&T coach explained.

“Our medical people will have their work cut out for them to get the girls physically ready to come back and play again tomorrow. These are challenges we face tomorrow but we will come up with an appropriate game plan and see how best it works in that game tomorrow,” he added.

Looking back at Sunday’s loss, Hood said: “Overall, I would say I was very disappointed, certainly in the result as well as the first half-performance particularly.” He said his players were behind the pace in the first half and also lacked commitment.

“We were not committed to attacking as we had planned to do. We deviated from the tactical plan offensively and defensively as well in the middle of the field particularly. In terms of possession, it was pretty decent but were not really attacking the score-box and I think that was my disappointment in the first half. We appeared to lack that kind of commitment that would have resulted in creating more goal scoring opportunities for our team,” he said.

T&T were better in the second half where he said he noticed “a complete shift in energy levels.”

“I thought the girls really gave a fantastic effort in the second half but just unfortunate that we were unable to score. We created some good opportunities but the finishing just was not there,” he assessed.

“But I certainly compliment the effort in the second half, the attitude, everything was brilliant in the second half so I was very happy with that. But overall disappointed,” he concluded.


Trinidad and Tobago (4-1-4-1): 21.Mikaela Yearwood (GK); 15.Kanika Rodriguez, 8.Victoria Swift (captain), 2.Shaunalee Govia, 3.Ariana Borneo;6.Chrissy Mitchell (19.Talia Martin 77); 13.Sonia Lamarre, 7.Alexcia Ali (14.Orielle Martin), 10.Asha James, 20.Kedie Johnson; 9.Tori Paul.

Unused substitutes: 1.Maya Figgener (GK), 4.Kaitlyn Darwent, 5.Anastasia O’Brien, 11.Rasheda Archer, 12.Cherina Steele, 16.Hackeemar Goodridge, 17.Mariah Williams, 18.Tayeann Wylie.

Coach: Richard Hood

[Tallman]

Women Warriors beaten 3-0 by Curaçao
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)

The country's senior women's football team left Curaçao Tuesday disappointed but happy after being beaten 3-0 by the host nation in the final match of the Caribbean Queen's International Friendly Tournament at the Rignaal Jean Stadium.

After two wins against Aruba and Curaçao last week, coach Richard Hood's charges failed to even fashion a similar performance to pull off at least a win against the same two teams. This, Hood attributes to three main factors- his players' fitness levels, the turf surface that they played on for the first time, and the loss of two key players in his lineup.

On Monday night, the Women Warriors were beaten 3-0, needing just a draw to clinch the tournament win.

Hood in an immediate response said, "We knew that a draw would have been good enough for us to win the tournament but we felt that it was important to try and balance the team in such a way that we could provide offensive threats, and at the same time remain defensively organised at the back. That is why we brought in Chrissy Mitchell at the back because this is the position she played in College and this is the position she played previously."

According to Hood: " With the absence of Kedie Johnson on the left, we thought that Arianna Borneo would be capable of providing some sort of threat on that side because she has a fantastic ability to attack well, but that of course, did not work out. In terms of our midfield, we were very much disorganised. We had two very young, inexperienced players in there, so the pressures of the big occasion and the nervousness probably got to them a bit. But I have to say that Cherina Steele particularly, I was very impressed with her performance. Last night (Monday), she worked hard, I thought she played rather well actually."

Hood, in an almost ball-by-ball commentary of the game, said: "Our game plan was quite simple, to remain defensively solid, we know that the threat would come from the number #11, particularly with her speed, and also the number 10 as well the captain. So the plan was not to allow them to get behind, but obviously, that didn't quite work out from the first minute. From the first attack she got behind and tried to square it back and unfortunately Victoria Swift turned the ball into her own goal."

"That was the worst possible start and it took apart our gameplan, really destroyed it. But I think the girls tried to do what we asked them to do, they tried to stay in it. We urged them to keep playing and I thought that following that early goal, we eventually settled down and started to make things happen. We created a couple of half chances but it was unfortunate that we weren't able to put them in the nets. I thought though that the girls worked hard, they tried their best."

"We conceded a second goal which was a wonder strike from a distance and I know that certainly would have deflated the young ladies, but they kept at it, they kept trying, they kept on creating opportunities but the third goal was the one that destroyed all faith of us getting back into the game and getting a result," Hood explained.

The tournament aimed at allowing the women players some much-needed international friendly experience, as there is no Concacaf or FIFA tournament for them this year, was well received. Hood said following discussions with officials of the two other teams there, it is hoped that the tournament can be brought to T&T for a second leg during the next FIFA Window, or a later window.

Aruba claimed the tournament win with seven points, while Hood's charges were second with two wins in four matches. Curacao secured the bottom position with four points.

Trinidad and Tobago (4-2-3-1): 21.Mikaela Yearwood (GK); 15.Kanika Rodriguez, 8.Victoria Swift (captain), 2.Shaunalee Govia, 6.Chrissy Mitchell; 12.Cherina Steele, 10.Asha James [Red card 74]; 13.Sonia Lamarre (14.Orielle Martin 67), 11.Rasheda Archer (7.Alexcia Ali 40), 3.Ariana Borneo; 9.Tori Paul.

Unused substitutes: 1.Maya Figgener (GK), 4.Kaitlyn Darwent, 5.Anastasia O’Brien, 16.Hackeemar Goodridge, 17.Mariah Williams, 18.Tayeann Wylie.

Suspended: 19.Talia Martin, 20.Kedie Johnson.

Coach: Richard Hood