GRENADA--Team St. Maarten soccer is battling to return to the Friendly Island for Saturday’s International game against US Virgin Islands.
St. Maarten is competing in the 2016 Scotiabank Caribbean Cup. St. Maarten is pooled with Grenada and USVI. The top two teams move on to the next round.
“We lost the first game in Grenada so we have to win Saturday to go forward,” said president of the St. Maarten Soccer Association Johnny Singh.
“We started out strong and held the number sixth rank Grenada 0-0 in the first half.’
Two St. Maarten players were injured in the rough encounter March 22. One tackle left a striker with a broken rib. Later another player hurt his knee.
Grenada won 5-0. St. Maarten is ranked number 31 in the region.
Now St. Maarten is battling to return to the Friendly Island. USVI is ranked number 27.
CFU had agreed to fund the team’s airfare explain Singh. Unfortunately the money to purchase the tickets did not reach the airlines before scheduled departure so no seats were available.
“I made several calls. I figured we would not be able to play. Then the day of the match, Singh was called at noon, “get your team to the airport by 2:00pm.” The team left St. Maarten around four and had to play at 8:00pm.
The team experienced the same problem on the return.
“I am told, they will return Thursday,” said Singh.
The match against USVI is set to kick off at Raoul Illidge Sports Complex Saturday at 7:30pm. Cost to enter is US $5 or NAf 10.
