The Sugar Girls ended their Concacaf Women’s Gold Cup Qualifying campaign on Monday at the SKNFA Technical Centre in a match against Women’s World Cup participants Costa Rica. Despite the heavy defeat, the mostly local players gave a valiant effort, applauded by the fans in attendance. Coach Samuel Phipps took some positives from this campaign and last night’s match. “First I’d like to thank Father God for allowing us to come here and play football. Yes, a tough loss tonight again at the office. Nonetheless, I thought that the girls went out and gave their heart,” he said.
“I think that they went out and did their country proud. They did their best and we knew it was going to be tough. We knew it was gonna be tough after Costa Rica beat Haiti 2-1 back in Costa Rica, they’re gonna be gunning for us. But I think that they were good individual players, good team players…they broke us down a few times. We made some blunders, but I tip my hat to the girls,” Phipps added.
While the Sugar Girls have not advanced to the Gold Cup, the SKNFA will continue to build the Women’s Program, while also identifying and developing talent at the junior level into the senior team.