From triumph to defeat: Cayman ends Nations League with 5-1 loss

In their final fixture of the 2023-24 CONCACAF Nations League, the Cayman Islands national men’s football team was trounced 5-1 by Aruba on Monday, 20 Nov.

The loss comes only a month after Cayman celebrated their first win since 2019.

Monday’s game marked the second time Cayman played Aruba in Group B of League C CONCACAF Nations League. They were beaten 2-1 at home in the first fixture on 11 Sept., which head coach Claudio Garcia blamed on “small, small mistakes” and not being aggressive enough.

The men, hoping to avenge that loss, retuned home Tuesday from Aruba with nothing to show. Garcia told the Compass that he and his players were dejected following his team’s 5-1 defeat.

“We wanted to win, and we didn’t achieve it,” Garcia said. “So, we are upset, sad and disappointed.”

The match began with Aruba’s Terence Groothusen giving his team the 1-0 lead in the 16th minute. Just before halftime, Aruba made it 2-0 after a goal from Rovien Ostiana.

Cayman’s Gunnar Studenhofft then scored to bring the match to 2-1, giving his squad a glimmer of hope before Benjamin Maria extended Aruba’s lead only five minutes later.

To make matters worse, Cayman’s Jah Dain Alexander was shown the red card in the 68th minute, putting the 345 squad a man down and further discouraging the players.

Aruba went on to score twice more, in the 77th minute by Jaydon Dania and a second goal by Groothusen in the 89th minute.

Garcia remained optimistic about the national team’s performance, though, noting that at this level of gameplay, sometimes his players will take one step forward and two back.

“I’m really proud of the boys. Of course we didn’t win, but they did everything that they could,” he said. “I was talking to them at the end and I was saying after our win against (the US Virgin Islands), we are not the best country in the world, but we are not the worst after this loss.”

Garcia added that his attention will now turn to preparing for the next World Cup qualifiers, while maintaining the current group of players.