CAY HILL-Antigua and Barbuda along with Cuba advanced to the next round of the Caribbean Football Union U20 Qualifiers when the final night for matches came to an end at the Raoul Illidge Sports Complex last night.
Antigua and Barbuda was held to a 1-1 draw against Puerto Rico while Cuba defeated St. Marten 5-0.
Antigua and Barbuda topped the table with seven points while Cuba came in second place with six points.
Last night, Antigua went ahead through their prolific goal scorer and team Captain Javorn Stevens who hit the back of the net as early as the second minute. The Puerto Ricans responded well through Jeimax Osorio in the 21st minute.
After the match, the winning Captain said that he was instructed by his coach to always try to score early. “My coach always tells me put the ball behind the net. I try to go out there and get an early goal for my team. I’m really happy that we could have done well for our country. No one expected us to win the group stage but we played well to advance to the next round.”
He revealed that the team had five players who lived outside of Antigua and Barbuda but came in and gelled well with the team.
The elated coach George Warner said that the team was training together for three months prior to the qualifier. He was extremely proud of the team’s performance. “This team is the future for the Antigua and Barbuda National team. They stuck together, listened carefully and were able to carry out the plans which were set out for them. I think we have the best Technical Director in Raulston Williams.” said Warner
In the second match, St. Maarten had some unforeseen circumstances which hampered their much-improved performance. Firstly, their first choice goal keeper in Jazz Holiday broke his hand and the replacement Najib Baroud looked shell-shocked and overawed by the big moment; he allowed two goals to pass through him in bizarre circumstances. He was replaced in the 16 minute by the more athletic and agile Naeco Drijvers in goal. Secondly, high wind and rain stopped play in the 78th minute. The players were called off the field seven minutes until the rain and win subsided. After the rain, the condition badly affected the home who struggled to deal with win in particular. The fourth goal which was scored in the 80th minute could only be described as a wind-assisted goal as the ball swerved away alarmingly from the goal keeper who could only watch in astonishment.
After the fifth goal, there a little scuffle just outside the St. Maarten goal which resulted in yellow cards for St. Maarten Captain in Dyai Essed and Alberto Santiago. In less than two minutes, Essed received another yellow card for an unnecessary tackle from behind the defender and was shown the dreaded red card which left his team to negotiate the next four minutes of the match with 10-men.
Overall, the home team showed steady progress throughout the tournament; a sentiment expressed most of the spectators and also the scorecards. They went down 9-0 to Puerto Rico, 6-0 to Antigua and Barbuda and 5-0 to Cuba.
The next round of matches will be played from October 21-26 in Curacao.
