Antigua and Barbuda’s national under-20 women’s football team ended their Group A Concacaf Qualifiers on a positive note, outscoring the Belize under-20s by a 5-3 margin to claim their only win of the group stage at the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association (ABFA) Technical Center on Tuesday.
Striker and captain Gabrielle DeSuza led for the home team with a double, netting in minutes 38 and 90+4. There were single strikes from Ajahna Martin in the 22nd, Iressiea Allen in the 24th and an own-goal by Belize’s Riann Acal in the 28th as Antigua and Barbuda took a three-nil lead within the first 28 minutes.
However, Belize put up a fight with Khalydia Velasquez scoring her first of two goals in the 36th minute after which, Betsy Perez headed home in first half added time to send her team into the interval just two goals behind. Velasquez found her brace in the 79th when she fired home a long-range effort.
The result means that Antigua and Barbuda finishes third in the group while Belize finishes at the bottom of the standings with just one point.
Earlier, Guyana edged Haiti 1-0 to advance from Group A with seven points. A decisive and brilliant goal from Myanne Fernandes sealed the win, securing Guyana’s place in the tournament’s main draw for the second time in history. Fernandes picked up the ball on the right side of the opposition’s goal area, dribbled past three Haitian defenders and then created an angle on the left side of the box, slotting home calmly past the flailing Haitian keeper.
