Bermuda coach Naquita Robinson has said she is proud of her players but pointed to a failure to stick to their game plan after they were beaten 4-1 by Guatemala in their Women’s World Cup qualifier on Monday night.

The Lady Gombey Warriors, who were looking to build on a 4-0 victory over Cayman Islands five days earlier, lost for the first time in the group in Guatemala CIty.

Robinson believes that Bermuda tried to play too much football rather than attempting to shut the game down.

“Four mistakes on our part led to their goals,” Robinson told The Royal Gazette.

“We ran away from our counter-attacking plan and tried to do what we have been doing, which is playing out from the back. We need to work on that a bit more and help the players to be disciplined enough to understand when we can and when we can’t.

“Guatemala pressed us high and they’re a very tactical and physical team, but I don't think they completely outplayed us. They just did a few more things more correctly and didn’t make the mistakes we did — they didn’t give us the opening to capitalise.

“Our game plan was not to win it but to guide them, direct them and delay them so that we can maintain our defensive shape.”

The Bermuda coach was keen to point out the extra resources available to the Guatemalans and the extra fixtures that help to fine tune their game.

“What makes them better is that they have more games,” Robinson said.

“They have more players that are playing at a higher level and their strength and conditioning is huge. You can see that even in their warm-up, they had a strength and conditioning coach doing the preparation.

“Our physiotherapists in our warm-up are phenomenal, but these are the little pieces that are missing in our game to take us to the next level.”

Reflecting on the two matches played, Robinson believes she now has a better indication of where Bermuda stands relative to their regional counterparts.

“Overall, this has been a successful window,” she said.

“This game against Guatemala showed us where we actually are. We’re not far off from these teams but it shows the work that we need to put in.

“We need to have more opportunities to get into a position like this so that we can see where we need to work. The girls left everything on the field against Guatemala so I’m proud of these ladies.

“It was such a good feeling at the end of the match despite the scoreline because we knew that they did not outplay us. We know that had we had a few more attacking opportunities, then we would have been more successful.”

One bright spot on the night was the performance of goalkeeper Sharifa Crockwell, who came on for her international debut in the 23rd minute for the injured Taya Rodrigues and made a number of crucial saves. So impressive was the 32-year-old that she was voted Bermuda’s best player on the night by her team-mates.

“The substitute goalkeeper was phenomenal,” the coach said.

“At the end we did a players’ player of the match and she won that award. She came in and did a phenomenal job. The goals she conceded were a free shot and a penalty. Other than that, she did fantastic.

“I'm very happy and I’m proud of her. She’s one that I’ve been trying to get into the international set-up for a while and I’m happy that she finally accepted the call.

“Taya looks to have jolted her knee a bit. I don’t know if it came from the foul on the second goal, which should have been ruled out for a foul on the keeper as their player ran straight into her.

Guatemala now top group C with Bermuda second. Costa Rica, the highest-ranked side in the pool, sit third after labouring to a 2-1 victory over Grenada.

When the action resumes early next year, Bermuda face Grenada and Costa Rica at home.

“We go into March with Guatemala, Costa Rica and us all on three points,” Robinson said.

“Guatemala and Costa Rica have to play each other and we play Costa Rica and Grenada. I watched Grenada and Costa Rica the other night and it was a really tight match, so we’re right in this group.

“Hopefully, we can get my players together at some point in February, to have a mini training camp,” the coach added.

“I would like to play against the under-17 boys or someone tough so that we can have these exact same experiences. We need to work on the things that we wanted to work on against Guatemala. That has to happen before we play against Costa Rica on March 3.”