Promotion to League B and winning Group A of League C are the two main goals of the Barbados senior men’s national team ahead of the 2024-2025 Concacaf Nations League.
Barbados will begin their quest to return to the second highest tier of football in Concacaf when they battle against the Bahamas in an opening round fixture at the Bethlehem Soccer Complex in St Croix on Saturday from 4:00 pm.
The Tridents arrived in the United States Virgin Islands on Friday afternoon as the top-seeded team in Group A, based on FIFA and Concacaf rankings. They are expected to top the proceedings.
Barbados took part in an official pre-match training session prior to their clash with Bahamas. They will also take on hosts United States Virgin Islands on Tuesday at the same venue.
It has been a year and five months since Barbados last tasted victory in any international competition, with their latest triumph a 2-1 win over Antigua & Barbuda back in 2023 at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
Since then, the Tridents have failed to win or draw a single match, losing all eight of their fixtures, including heavy defeats to the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua as well as Curaçao and Haiti in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers back in June.
Saturday’s game against the Bahamas will be just the third in charge for former national midfielder Kent Hall, who took over from ex-Barbados Football Association (BFA) technical director and interim head coach Emerson Boyce. Hall is cautiously optimistic about the team’s chances.
“Our preparations for the Concacaf Nations League are a continuation of the work that we began during the World Cup qualifiers a few months ago,” he said. “ We are slowly laying the developmental building blocks for our team to grow as a unit, and consciously making tweaks and modifications as we go to strengthen the formation of our new team core.
“It’s a long journey to reach the performance outcomes that we aspire to, and we are still in the process of establishing and refining the way we play. I’m excited to have a few new fresh faces in the squad who have never been selected for the senior team before, and we are all just really looking forward to getting out there and giving it one hundred percent.”
Hall will have been encouraged by the team’s performance in Curaçao. The Tridents lost, but the manner of the defeat was not disgraceful, and players on the pitch appeared to be playing with a set style and philosophy implemented.
Hall has definitely started to stamp his authority with the appointment of Weymouth Wales left-back Andre Applewhaite as the new national captain, with the defender a proven staple in the back-line.
Like any other coach, his team selection will be the point of debate. This tour, Hall is without talisman Thierry Gale, arguably Barbados’ best player, who plays professionally in Austria for Rapid Wien. Gale has fully recovered from injury, but this first round of matches has come too soon for the 21-year-old forward.
Exciting Wales forward Nadre Butcher also missed out due to personal reasons, while Taji James was unavailable. Nevertheless, Hall has shown faith in the youth, selecting Dubai-based striker Khalil Vanderpool-Nurse and the reliable UWI Blackbirds ace marksman Niall Reid-Stephen, who will be a welcomed addition and boost to the attacking options in the absence of Hallam Hope and Armando “Suga” Lashley.
Hall has gone with the experience of former captain Hadan Holigan who is expected to be a key figure in midfield along with his Wales teammate Ackeel Applewhite.
As a Manchester United fan, one would believe Hall will be looking to adopt the traditional flair style to the Tridents of course with a solid defence, marshalled by the ever consistent Mario “Bagga” Williams who could be joined by new addition Nathan Walters, looking to make his debut for Barbados. Hall recalled right-back Carl Hinkson, perhaps to offer some cover to the right-back position for Ricardo Morris in place of Zachary Haden-Ellis.
It will be interesting to see who Hall will trust as the new number one goalkeeper. Former first-choice Kishmar Primus has made the trip but he will be challenged for a starting spot by two promising custodians in overseas-based Justin Griffith and Jireh Malcolm.
So overall, Hall will have his work cut out for him. Winning the group and returning to League B is the yardstick Hall will be judged on. Barbadian football fans have grown impatient given the last couple of results but there is a feeling of optimism with Hall at the wheel, the new head coach will need time but whether he can deliver the goods, only time will tell.
(BT)
