Canada and Mexico will be part of the mini tournament that will see six matches being played among the four teams. *Photo credit: www.chambita.com
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Feb 9, CMC – Hosts Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica will be joined by two other CONCACAF teams at month-end for a four-nation warm-up tournament for the FIFA Women’s Under-17 World Cup in Trinidad and Tobago in September.
With just six months to go before the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) stages the 2010 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup, Norwegian technical director Even Pellerud will use the series to assess the readiness of the T&T side at the February 28 to March 5 warm-up tournament at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium.
Canada and Mexico will be part of the mini tournament that will see six matches being played among the four teams.
The announcement was made Monday at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Port of Spain, where FIFA vice-president and TTFF special adviser Jack Warner described its staging as ’a dream come true’.
Warner revealed that efforts were made to get Norway, Sweden and the United States to play the tournament as well, but all were unavailable.
Several incentives are being implemented to ensure crowd support for the Soca Princesses.
Ticket prices have been kept low at TT$20 (US$3.10) for adults and TT$10 (US$1.55) for Under-17s.
Warner said that transport will be provided free to students of the schools from which the women footballers are drawn, and also schools in the vicinity of Manny Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella.
He said the Soca Princesses needed to play before a packed stadium in preparation for the September 5-25 FIFA Women’s U17 World Cup.
“Based on these prices you will see this is not a money-making venture,” Warner said.
“This tournament is about fans. We understand the importance of bringing fans closer to football…we understand the importance of bringing football closer to the fans,” he added.
Nataki Kerr, deputy CEO of the Local Organising Committee for the Women’s U17 World Cup, insisted that Trinidad and Tobago needed to get fully behind their young women football stars, starting with the four-nation tournament.
“Teams that do well in the World Cup generally excel because of home advantage. They have a country that believes in them. They have stars that the country knows. The stadia are filled with voices shouting their names and chanting slogans synonymous to country support. We are ready, but we need to get fanatical. The world is coming to play and we must get behind the team and make sure they know that they are in Trinidad and Tobago,’ Kerr said.
TTFF president Oliver Camps endorsed the event and joined in the call for support.
“We are transforming this country to become the home of women’s football,” Camps said.
“We have a lot to be proud of. We are the smallest nation ever to qualify for a FIFA Men’s World Cup in 2006. What is even more significant is the fact that yet again this small nation of just about 1.3 million citizens, in just one decade, is privileged to host not the first but its second FIFA World Cup,” Camps said, referring to the 2001 FIFA U17 World Cup held in T&T.
