Bermuda coach Naquita Robinson is preparing her players for what she has described as a “tough assignment” in their Women’s World Cup qualifier against Guatemala tonight (9pm).

Robinson’s side started their campaign on a bright note with a 4-0 victory away to Cayman Islands last Thursday and they hopped on a flight to Guatemala City just a few hours later. After their arrival on Friday, they recuperated on Saturday and trained yesterday in advance of their second match in group C.

With Guatemala ranked sixteenth, two places below Bermuda, in the Concacaf rankings, it is no surprise that Robinson expects the Central American country to provide her team with more of a challenge

“I’ve been doing a bit of research on them and they did well in the last Concacaf qualifiers,” Robinson told The Royal Gazette.

“So just based on watching a few of their games, we know how they play. They are pretty nifty, play a tiki-taka style of football and they play fast.

“We’re looking to defend a little bit better, not diving in, not always trying to win the ball, but more of directing them and delaying them. We have to do what we have to do to gain possession and maintain the ball.

“We’re always looking to win, so it’s not like we’re going to sit there and let them dictate the game, but I’m going to be a little more mindful of them when it comes to their attack.”

Bermuda’s big win in Grand Cayman means they occupy top position in the group on goal difference. Costa Rica, the highest-ranked team in the pool, registered a 2-1 away victory against Grenada in their first game last week.

Captain Eva Frazzoni showed the way last week by opening the scoring against Cayman with her goal was followed by strikes from Kenni Thompson, Jaden Masters and Nia Christopher.

Frazzoni, Masters, Christopher, Khyla Brangman and Koa Goodchild were substituted in the second half with Bermuda in no danger of losing as Robinson attempted to conserve the energy of some of her top players. Among the substitutes was young forward, Evans Welch, who replaced Brangman in the 89th minute.

“We made some changes against Cayman just to keep people fresh for Monday,” the coach said.

“That’s a good thing and our physiotherapists are working around the clock to keep everybody healthy. So everybody at this moment is healthy and we are ready to go into the match.”

While the players were jubilant after their win in Cayman, Robinson is mindful that was just the first step on a road that will hopefully see them shock some of the group’s bigger guns.

“The players had a good time coming back to the hotel after the win over Cayman,” Robinson said.

“But they know that it’s a tough road ahead. So we regroup and we get our focus back as we know we have another tough match.”