Women's U-17 Tournament

Havana, Feb 2 (JIT) - The Cuban national soccer team bid farewell to the CONCACAF U-17 Women's 2025 Tournament after falling to Panama in their final Group C match, played in the Dominican Republic.

The 2-8 defeat banished their chances of advancing to the next phase, despite finishing second in the section with six points.

This was due to the fact that the goal differential was affected, as they lost a positive balance of six goals and finished with the same number of goals scored as conceded: nine.

This was a decisive factor, as the defeat left them with options to fight for one of the two best second places with the runners-up in groups A to D, who accumulated the same number of goals.

And although Guatemala finished in the same conditions, Bermuda finished with a favorable +5 in A and Trinidad and Tobago finished in B with an excellent +6, clearing any possibility for the Cubans.

The match got out of hand from the very beginning for the team coached by Silvio Pedro Miñoso, and in the 18th minute they were already losing by four goals, until Aneilis Blanco's reaction at 24'.

But the hill was still very steep and demanded more goals, and they did just that before the end of the first half with Olga Orozco's goal.

They even managed to contain the bleeding in defense, but the solidity lasted until the 70th minute when they received another painful blow, and another one at 71' as a result of the discomfort.

They probably still need to make many corrections in defense, but the positive reading is that they won two games, and another good one: they managed to score more than one goal in each of their outings.

Surely this will not serve as a consolation, although it must serve as a foundation for the future edification to which these young players, who have shown that the best is yet to come, are called to.