Girls ready for knockout stages

Cayman is preparing to face Honduras in the quarterfinals of the inaugural Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football Under-15 Girls Championship. Truman Bodden Sports Complex serves as host on Aug. 13 at 7:30 p.m. Cayman’s coach, Ruben Flores, says expectations for his squad are measured.

“We take one step at a time,” Flores said. “The girls, like I’ve been repeating, are well prepared. I’m very happy for them, the goal was always to have a good first round. We are luckily into the next round and I want them to be convincing, to continue to play well and to perform the way they should perform. Let’s go one step at a time, it ain’t going to be easy. I just want the people to see what they are doing is very consistent, it’s not a fluke.”

Cayman ended up undefeated in group play, topping Group A at 3-0. The home team enjoyed landslide victories: 5-0 over British Virgin Islands, 4-1 over the Bahamas and 6-0 last Sunday over Curacao. Cayman, behind youngsters like Brianna Poy Fong and Derricka Neysmith, was the only squad to gain the full nine points during the opening phases while scoring a competition-best 15 goals.

Wednesday’s opponent, Honduras, had a much tougher road to the knockout stages. That side had a 2-1 record to edge out 1-1-1 Bermuda and 0-3 Barbados as the runners-up in Group B. The Hondurans ended the opening phase with a 2-0 loss to frontrunners Trinidad and Tobago, who topped the group at 2-1-0. Trinidad will be in action on Wednesday, against Group A runners-up Bahamas, from 5:30 p.m. at Truman Bodden.

Most of the local girls feel confident about Cayman’s prospects against Honduras. Among them are captain Lauren Scott and defender Sabrina Suberan.

“I think we’re excited,” Scott said. “We’re focused on our next game, we want to come out on top. We’re excited to be in the next round.”

“I have confidence that we will come out on top of the tournament,” Suberan said.

Sunday’s thrashing of Curacao would further boost their spirits. While playing on a rain-soaked pitch, Halle Medina would score in the second minute before Jasmine Powery added another goal in the 19th minute. Chelsea Green then produced two goals, in the 20th and 22nd minute, to earn her third straight girl of the match honor. Curacao then buried themselves with two own goals in the 29th and 56th minute.

Green is currently the top scorer in the competition with six goals. She says her success and that of the team is a welcome contrast to her experience on the national Under-20 team.

“It’s a dream come true,” Green said. “I was playing for the Under-20 and we lost all of our games. It feels good to come and win all of our games and it feels good to score. I think we’re going to come out harder. We’re going to play with more heart. I had more desire than the first game because Bahamas was a harder team and we couldn’t underestimate them.”

Wednesday’s other quarterfinal matches will take place at the T.E. McField Sports Center. At 5:30 p.m. Canada battles Costa Rica while Jamaica faces Haiti at 7:30 p.m. Canada topped Group D with seven points after beating Puerto Rico, 5-0, crushing Cuba, 6-0, and drawing with Haiti, 1-1. Costa Rica were the Group C runners-up after thrashing Anguilla, 5-0, and Belize, 7-0, and drawing with Jamaica, 0-0.

The Jamaicans paced Group C with a 5-0 win over the Belizeans, a 9-0 thrashing of the Anguillians and the scoreless draw with the Costa Ricans. The Haitians were the Group D runners-up after beating the Cubans, 3-1, and the Puerto Ricans, 1-0, before having a 1-1 draw with the Canadians.

The score lines seen in the competition and the ease with which Cayman advanced might have skeptics questioning the value of the tournament. For coach Flores, a Mexican based out of Canada, it’s all part of a necessary focus on youth football development in the region.

“I think that the Caribbean tournament is very important for all the countries. It’s no secret that we are an area that needs a lot of development. I recognize that there are other countries that haven’t developed as much. I can actually tell you that before I came here with this team, before this tournament, they probably will look the same way as the teams we will face. The fact that we’ve been working hard, the fact that these girls are getting better development, the fact that we are teaching them how to play a proper game shows the difference. 

“Just a little bit of work shows the difference. Against Bahamas, you saw it again on the field. It’s a Caribbean island, as small as the ones that we are facing, but this team looks so much more disciplined, more organized and that’s just work, hard work that the girls have been putting in.”