Puerto Rico has gotten off to a dominating start. They dominated possession and the 3-1 result did not indicate the total control Puerto Rico displayed over Antigua. What surprised me was that their skipper, (Colin Clarke) was not present. Clarke was traveling with the Islanders. He must have though his troops would win without him….he was correct. These games are not the most astatically pleasing games to watch because of the lack of flow. The problem is that these poor Caribbean nations do not have the money to house and train their team for weeks before a tournament. These teams are thrown together and try to develop as the tournament goes. This is the idea for the Puerto Rico. They have a pretty easy group and I believe they will win the group with easy. They are also playing at home. The next game is tonight at 8:00pm EST. That is only one day rest for the 4 nations of Group A.
I was also disappointed with the condition of the pitch. It was waterlogged. There were giant puddles that stopped the fast moving ball in it tracks. This was surprising since the Islanders are a Division 2 USA team and they are presently still in the Champions League. The field must be Fifa qualified...
Another disappointment was the sparse crowd. I thought they would pack the stadium however only a few hundred showed for the game. There is no official count which makes me believe that it was small.
Saint Martin tied the Cayman Island 1-1. This does not bold well for either team. These teams need a win against each other to advance to Stage 2. The 4 group winners advance along with the 1st and 2nd runner ups. Group B kicks off Wednesday with Barbados and host St Vincent and the Grenadines the favorites to advance.
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