Cayman’s hope of capturing its first win in this year’s CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifiers failed to materialise Saturday, 19 Feb.
The women’s squad lost 4-0 to the Dominican Republic during the group C opening match, held at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex in George Town, on Saturday, 19 Feb.
Cayman was put at a disadvantage early in the match after Tamoy Phillips was shown a red card 20 minutes in following a reckless tackle in the 18-yard box.
Hundreds of local fans erupted in disapproval with referee Crystal Sobers’ decision.
After the match, Cayman’s assistant coach, Cláudio Garcia, told the Cayman Compass during a media scrum that the red card was unnecessary.
“I believe it was a foul but what I question is the double punishment that we suffered,” Garcia said.
The foul in the box led to Manuela Lareo of the DR capitalising on a penalty, giving her team an early lead 21 minutes into the match.
Garcia said the Caymanians, ranked 28th in the latest version of the CONCACAF rankings, had been holding their own against the DR, ranked 14, before the “double punishment”.
“We were one player down from the 20th minute,” he said. “[Before] that moment, we didn’t see the Dominican Republic pressuring us in a way that we were suffering that much… So we were controlling the game.”
After the early controversy, the DR would go on to score three more times. Just before halftime, Alyssa Oviedo made it 2-0 with a goal in the 40th minute.
Winifer Santa made it 3-nil 66 minutes into the second half after being subbed on. The team would registered their final goal eight minutes later, courtesy of Giovanna Dionicio.
Cayman will continue their bid to join the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup this Tuesday, 22 Feb., when the team faces Bermuda at the IMG Academy in Florida.
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