CONCACAF U-20 Women's Qualifiers

Havana, Feb 27 (JIT) - A win for Cuba over Bonaire in the CONCACAF Women's Under-20 Qualifiers 2025, hosted by the Dominican Republic, marked their farewell in the best possible way.

The 6-0 drubbing at the Estadio Olimpico Felix Sanchez left them third in Group C after defeats to the Panamanians and hosts.

However, the dominance of their opponents was never overwhelming. Despite facing two established teams in the area, with tradition in a discipline in which the Cubans are still trying to take off, they looked very solid, especially in defensive aspects.

Needless to say that a penalty in the first match marked the destiny of the team led by Silvio Pedro Miñoso, and a fortuitous deflection in the last act of the second match condemned them to another setback.

And this does not deny the superiority of the opposing teams, in fact both are ranked among the top 10 in the CONCACAF ranking, what the count alludes to is that the Islanders fought and showed weapons, and better than that, they demonstrated a remarkable improvement that should become an impulse for the near future.

In the match against Bonaire, they showed that they can also crush an opponent if they are not up to the task and that they are not only endowed with the destructive capacity. 

Kennys Castellanos was the proof, scoring a hat-trick (43', 67', and 90+2') that she will proudly display on her résumé and that marks her in a positive way.

Lorena Leiva scored in first-half stoppage time, and Ninel Ortega delivered a free kick goal from outside the box in the 83rd minute. Gabriela Illidge scored the fifth on her own goal in the 89th minute.

Panama finally earned the group's ticket to the CONCACAF U-20 Women's Championship 2025, a qualifier for the World Cup in that category, and the Cubans return home with the added experience and the confirmation that doing better is within reach.