 |
| Dominican Republic CAribbean Cup 2011 DR |
 |
| Dominican Republic stadium in San Cristoba |
Anguilla is another British overseas territory but is a full CONCACAF member. Anguilla is at the top of the Caribbean chain of islands, East of Puerto Rico. There are only about 14,000 inhabitants on this tiny tropical island. This is the second least in population in the Caribbean. Their coach is Scott Cooper who is a native Anguillan. Anguilla usually calls upon players from the English semi-professional (barroom league-weekend warriors) teams. Particularly the Sloth town area of England has players that have some type of birth connection to Anguilla. FIFA does not list a pro league of any kind. My guess they will no be any good.
Dominican Republic splits the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. Dominican Republic has slightly over 10 Million in the population. Only Cuba has a bigger population. Dominican Republic also has more people than all the Central American Nations (except Guatemala). Most Dominicans are poor with an average GDP per capita of $5,228 per year. This is a very poor country. Baseball dominates the sports world there The Dominican Republic is the nation I see with the most potential with in CONCACAF.. However with a population over 10 Million it is easy to find footballers. They have a pro league consisting of 8 Clubs. The Dominican Republic was one of the first Caribbean nations to benefit from the goal program. FIFA funded a headquarters and playing pitch in the country’s second largest city San Cristobal – a 15-minute drive from the capital Santo Domingo. This is where the Dominican Republic hosted the Caribbean Cup 2011 qualifying games. The stadium only holds 2,800 but is a newer stadium built in 2003. This is where I expect the Dominican to play their World Cup Qualifier games. Their coach is Cuban Clemente Hernandez who took over in 2010. Their star players are 2 attacking FW. Jonathan Fana at age 24, plays for the Puerto Rico Islanders. He is fast and has a nose for the goal. FW Daryl Batista is only 22 years He scored 5 goals in the Caribbean Cub qualifying game against the British Virgin Islands. They outplayed Dominica however it was Dominica that won the Caribbean Cup game 1-0. The Dominican Republic also has a number of young talents in European youth programs.
Look for the Dominican Republic to dominate this series, scoring multiple times. They have the players and the talent to crush Anguilla. The big question is how many fans will attend this preliminary game in Dominican Republic.
 |
| Dominican Start Player Jonathan Fana (Puerto Rico Islanders) |
