ANGUILLA—Twenty five members of Anguilla’s senior men’s football team leave for Miami, Florida on Friday, March 19 to begin the first round of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) qualifying matches for the Federation International Football Association (FIFA) 2022 world cup to be held in Qatar.
The first round of matches consisting of thirty teams will be played during March and June 2021. The teams were drawn into six groups consisting of five country teams each. Anguilla falls into Group D along with the countries of Panama, the Dominican Republic, Barbados and Dominica. Each team will play every other team in their group once. At the end of the first round, the six group winners will progress to the second round. Anguilla will play against the Dominican Republic on Saturday, March 27 and Barbados on Tuesday, March 30.
Key football and government officials held a press conference on Tuesday, March 16 at The Suites at the Anguilla Football Association located at the stadium ground to introduce the newly hired head and physical condition coaches and review the teams upcoming competition schedule.
President of the Anguilla Football Association Nigel Connor said, “We are happy to have on board Stern John. He is a legend in CONCACAF where he played at the highest level in the premier league.” Stern said that coaching the team which is placed last in the FIFA ranking is a challenge that he likes. He said he knows the team has what it takes to move up to another level. “We have a lot of natural talent on the island, but we have to start from scratch and develop it to where it is supposed to be. We want to go out on the field and show that we can compete with the best players in the world.”
Connor also welcomed Claudio Altieri from Venezuela to the team and noted that the team for the very first time has a conditioning and strengthening coach. He said “His expertise will ensure the guys can recover quickly and follow an appropriate diet to develop the right muscles needed to compete.” Altieri said “If you are a football player, football is not only a two hour session. There is another twenty two hours where you have to look after yourself.”
Minister of Sports Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers said that she is proud of the work being accomplished by the Anguilla Football Association. She said, “It is a testament to President Connor’s vision that we have the head coach, the strengthening and conditioning coach, and the players all feeling excited and enthusiastic about the direction of football in Anguilla.”
