Gold Cup Group spot would mean everything – Sandiford

…As Lady Jags get ready for clash with Dominican Republic

Guyana’s senior women’s national football team, the Lady Jags, are one day away from one of their biggest assignments yet, a match that could book their passage to the Group stage of the inaugural CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup.
The Lady Jags will come up against familiar foes, the Dominican Republic, at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California from 17:00hrs local time, with the winner advancing to Group A of the W Gold Cup.
According to Lady Jags Captain Chante Sandiford, the teams has been in high spirits. “So, for the past few days, we’ve been training, both to get ourselves sharp technically but also to iron out things that we want to do tactically against DR; and we’ve had a lot of opportunities to do that, including a scrimmage last night. So, the feeling in the group is very positive, and we’re really excited for the match, and we’re really focused on getting as much preparation as we possibly can for the match,” she said.
Sandiford went on to discuss the Lady Jags’ encampment, revealing that the intensity was high. “It’s really top- tier, to be honest,” Sandiford said about the team’s preparation thus far.
She further explained, “It’s like we had really good facilities and the weather’s been really nice, and we’ve been able to work on all the things that we wanted to work on, and we still have a few days left as well. So, we think we’ve had enough time, and the girls have been really focused and we’re putting in the effort. It’s been a really good preparation, a 100%.”
The Guyanese team also got some game-time in during the camp, with a scrimmage against the Rio Hondo College team. Highlighting some critical areas, Sandiford shared why the playing time was important. The goalkeeper divulged, “It was really important, because we can talk and train and do things technically in a training session, but you want to actually have an opportunity to see the team play 11v11 against another team, not just against ourselves.
“So, that was really important for us to go over our defensive shape: how we want to attack, and just see what players we have and where they could fit in and where the best place to play each player would be. So, that was a really important opportunity for us to have that scrimmage,” she added.
Quizzed on what a place in the Women’s Gold Cup Group stage would mean to the team, the Lady Jags captain described it as ‘everything’.
“Wow! It would mean everything, honestly. The team has been trying to get this kind of international notoriety for some time. We have a really big opportunity here to play against some of the top teams in the world, and just to show how far Caribbean football has actually come,” the Lady Jags Captain candidly shared.
Sandiford went on to state, “I think it would be a huge opportunity for us. So, we are 100% focused on winning this next match, so that we can get that opportunity.”
If successful, the Lady Jags will move on to Group A and will battle the USA, Mexico and Argentina. Their first Group game would be on February 20th against the hosts. (Jemima Holmes)