BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE battle is far from over but teams Haiti and St. Kitts-Nevis have already begun demonstrating their dominance on the football field, beating teams Antigua/Barbuda and St. Lucia respectively in the first leg of the CFU Group D Olympic Qualifier games.
The double-header action began promptly at 6:00 last evening (July 21) at the Warner Park Football Stadium with Haiti taking on Antigua/Barbuda.
The Haitians wasted no time in indicating that they were a team to be reckoned with, and in the second minute of the game the first goal was driven into the back of the nets by Charles Harold.
The team’s strategy was clearly an offensive one but Antigua/Barbuda rose to the challenge and equalised in the 27th minute off the boot of Stefan Smith.
With the score even entering the second half of the game, the match seemed to be anybody’s.
Several unsuccessful attempts were made by both teams early in the second half, but, again, Haiti triumphed with Guerrier Wilde Donald finding Antigua/Barbuda’s nets in the 48th minute.
Haiti’s coach Edison Tavares told SKNVibes that although his team was victorious (2-1), the standard at which its members played was way below the norm.
“During the first half of the match, the team didn’t play well. We have a very complicated situation in Haiti, so we spent one week there for training. But, unfortunately, the conditions were very bad so we have new players who just arrived yesterday (July 20) who came from European countries and from French and from Mexico. They are not fit enough, so for the first half we had a lot of problems. The second half, the team played better but it still not our level. So, we can do better. The soccer we played today is not the level at which we play…never, never, never.”
He said his team would be engaged in special training exercises in preparation for the remaining games.
In the second match, host country St. Kitts/Nevis took on St. Lucia and defeated them 2-1.
Numerous scoring opportunities were squandered by both teams in the early minutes of the first half. However, loud cheers erupted from the stands and all other areas where St. Kitts-Nevis’ fans had gathered when Travis ‘Rug Rat’ Sommersal broke the deadlock and found the back of St. Lucia’s nets in the 39th minute.
The second half was a carbon copy of the first, as scoring opportunities were again wasted.
Ball possession sew-sawed between the teams for almost 40 minutes, but, in the 79th minute of the game, St. Kitts/Nevis took control and Terrance Warde made no mistake in ensuring that the home team sealed the deal.
Not to be outdone, in the dying minutes of the game, a determined St. Lucia got its lone goal from Zaine Pierre.
The action continues tomorrow evening (July 23) with Haiti going against St. Lucia at 6:00 and host team St. Kitts/Nevis taking on archrivals Antigua/Barbuda at 8:00.
