The Cayman Islands senior men’s national team is preparing for a big 2014 World Cup qualifying game against El Salvador.
The match is on Tuesday, 6 September at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex at 7:30pm.
According to Technical Director for Cayman football Carl Brown, the Cayman team has been preparing for the qualifying games and in particular the El Salvador team – adding that some of his players will be benefitting from the recent experiences gained from the Olympic qualifiers that were played in Suriname.
“It is important to realize that the entire group will not be benefiting from those games in Suriname but some will,” Brown said. “Therefore we cannot determine how ready the team is, as this will be a new experience. For most of the team, they are better prepared and I expect them to perform well. I am disappointed that they did not get any international games in order to be fully prepared for a game of this standard. However they are physically strong and have made efforts in training. Therefore, I am hoping for the best.”
The Cayman team just arrived back from their opening game over the weekend. They lost 1-0 to Suriname. Captain Ian Lindo states in spite of that showing confidence is high among the team.
“There is unity in this group and the camaraderie is great,” Lindo said. “We encourage each other a lot. We did not have any practice games but we are confident that we can go out there and do our best to make the Cayman Islands proud.”
Cayman will play the return leg against El Salvador on Tuesday, 11 October. El Salvador sits in 75th position in the world rankings, while Cayman is ranked at 172. El Salvador has a rich football history, with the senior men’s national team’s first match in September 1921, when they were invited to participate in a tournament to celebrate 100 years of Central American independence. The Estadio Cuscatlan is the official home stadium of the El Salvador national team with a seating capacity of 52,000.
El Salvador has made two World Cup appearances – 1970 and 1982 – but have never progressed beyond the first group stage.
Tickets for this Tuesday’s game are on sale at Fosters Food Fair, Western Union, Funky Tangs, Captains Bakery, Party Land (next to little darlings) and Sports Port LTD (on the waterfront in George Town).
Related Videos
