"We all know there will be a lot of pressure on home soil against a team (Chile) we absolutely need to beat. We know that after that comes Nigeria and Korea (defending champions) who are very strong teams," Trinidad and Tobago's Norwegian head coach Even Pellerud said, ahead of their FIFA Under-17 Women's World Cup match against Chile today. "Chile is very strong as well, but that momentum of winning the game against Chile will be very important for us."

]The 2010 FIFA Under-17 Women's World Cup begins today with double-headers at both the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain, and the Dwight Yorke Stadium, Tobago. First up at the Crawford Stadium, Nigeria and North Korea will meet at three p.m. in what should be a very competitive match, before hosts T&T see action for the first time ever in a Women's World Cup at six p.m. when they take on South American runners-up Chile.

Pellerud has done his homework, travelling to Chile to see the Chileans in action. He also took his Soca Princesses to South America to play the two other qualifiers from that region in preparation for today's match. Brazil won the 2010 South American Under-17 Women's Championship with a thumping 7-0 defeat of Chile in the final, while Venezuela edged Paraguay for the third qualifying spot. Brazil had also hammered Ecuador 15-0 as they played unbeaten in six qualifying matches.

Playing in Rio de Janeiro, T&T held the Brazilians 1-1 in the first match of their tour, before losing 6-0 in the second. They also travelled to Venezuela in August where they won their two matches 2-1 and 1-0.

Pellerud believes his Soca Princesses are as ready as can be.

"We have had very good preparations lately, particularly the three games, against Venezuela twice, and against Northern Ireland last week. It was good for us in terms of performance, in that we won all the games. So, the mentality should be very good, should be optimistic...not overconfident, but I guess we are where we should be at the moment."

Pellerud is most pleased by the growth of his players over the two years they have been together. Though several foreign players of local ancestry, some quite good, tried out for the team, Pellerud has selected 13 home-based footballers in his 21-member squad.

"I go with the best team. I don't look at the passport when I pick the team, " Pellerud said. "I was very pleased to see that the locally-based group has worked very, very hard over the almost two years they have been together. I have seen a lot of progress by the local group . Their level wasn't very high, but they have done a fantastic job and really become good football players. So, I am very pleased."

Going into today's showdown with Chile, Pellerud reports that all 21 players in the T&T camp are healthy.

The head coach believes crowd support will be important for the Soca Princesses.

"It's an advantage to play at three different venues. I have talked about the pressure on us, but on the flip side of that will be the support we will have in the stands. The sound of the noise in the stands will help us, I'm sure, and we are excited about that."

Log on to www.trinidadexpress.com from 3 p.m. for live updates from the Nigeria/North Korea showdown, and from 6 p.m. for live updates from the T&T/Chile matchup.