A confident National Under-19 female football team departs Guyana tomorrow for Antigua to participate in the Caribbean Zone of the CONCACAF World Cup preliminaries

Head coach of the side Andrew Grogon said yesterday that surprises could be expected from the females who have completed six weeks of preparation.

"We have been together for six weeks and I'm 80 percent satisfied with the level of preparation. The team spirit and confidence is high. I think that we will surprise a lot of people," the coach said.

Grogon pointed out that finishing, which has hindered many national teams, has again proved a stumbling block. "I Guyana finishing seem to be the basic problem. I still think that our finishing needs something else to it," the coach said.

Guyana will battle with host country Antigua and Barbuda, Suriname and Dominica. Striker Stacy Hoyte will captain the national side which is managed by Roderyck Trotman. The assistant coach is Terry Plummer.

Yesterday the females played their final warm up game against Triton Football Club of Melanie Damishana.

Meanwhile, the final qualifying tournament for the Football Confederation for the inaugural FIFA Under 19 Women's World Championship has been set from 5 12 May 2001, to be held in Trinidad & Tobago.

Eight countries will contest the final tournament, two from the North Zone, two from the Central Zone and three from the Caribbean Zone, along with the host country. The teams will be divided into two groups, one to play on Trinidad and one on Tobago, in the new stadia built for the recently completed FIFA U 17 World Championship.

The winner of each group will earn the FC's two berths available for Canada 2002, but will also play a final match to determine the Confederation champion.

As hosts of the inaugural Women's U 19 Championship, Canada are not required to qualify, leaving Mexico and USA as the two remaining North Zone participants.

In the Caribbean, twelve countries have announced the intentions to play, including Trinidad & Tobago, which will participate in the qualification rounds as a guest team. The teams have been divided into three groups of four teams with round robins to be played at single sites, the group winners advancing to the final tournament.

Central Zone qualifying will be announced at a later date, to be completed no later than 14 March 2002.