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Belize U-17 girls lose 3-1 to Curacao, face Barbados on Friday

SportsBelize U-17 girls lose 3-1 to Curacao, face Barbados on Friday

BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Oct. 21, 2021– Yesterday, Wednesday, at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL, USA, our Belize Women U-17 National Team lost, 3-1, to Curacao in the 2021 Concacaf Women U-17 (CWU17) Qualifying tournament. Tomorrow, our girls hope to rebound in their final match of the Qualifiers against Barbados, scheduled for 9:10 a.m. Belize time.

With some withdrawals due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, only ten teams are participating in the Qualifiers, which consists of 3 teams each in groups A and B, and 4 teams in group C. Belize is in group B along with Barbados and Curacao, so we get to play only two games. Group A includes Saint Kitts and Nevis, US Virgin Islands, and Suriname; while group C has Honduras, Anguilla, Guyana, and Turks and Caicos Islands.

According to Concacaf, “the winner of each group and the best ranked second place finisher will advance to the 2022 Concacaf Women’s U-17 Championship” which takes place in January of next year.

In their nervous first outing on the international stage, our Belize girls played competitively, but brief lapses near the end of both halves resulted in 3 goals for their opponents, 2 just before the intermission (Draynishaina Uranie at 44’ and Julainy Thielman at 45+2’) resulting in a 2-nil halftime deficit, and the other near the long whistle (90+2’). Belize’s Khalydia Velasquez (52’) cut the lead in half early in second half, but the score remained 2-1 until Curacao’s Draynishaina scored again in injury time for the 3-1 final score.

Belize Women U-17 National Team starting eleven: goalkeeper – #1 Jaleeny Belisle; defenders – #10 Blanca Hoare and #20 Nigelee Myers; midfielders – #2 Zeaunn Alvarez, #3 Ceneia Apolonio, #4 Shamika Lambey, #5 Karel Avila, #11 Laila Waight and #13 Loraine Cal; forwards – #8 Shendra Casimiro (captain) and #9 Khalydia Velasquez. Substitutes list: goalkeeper – #12 Lorane Crawford; defenders – #6 Yasmine Diaz, #14 Veril Morris, #17 Marjorie Sanchez and #18 Alicia Coc; midfielders – #16 Ailani Gonzales and #19 Shaylalee Flowers; forwards – #7 Vanelly Santoya and #15 Elva Nunez. Head coach – Iris Centeno; assistant coach – Miriam Villamil.

All is not lost for Belize, as a victory against Barbados on Friday could keep us in the race for a spot in 2022 CWU17 Championship in January. Le’s go Belize!!

N.B. The games are streamed live at concacaf,com, YouTube, and Facebook.

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