Cayman Islands may not have gone through in the World Cup qualifiers last week but their only professional player believes there are a lot of positives ahead.
Cayman keeper Tuda Murphy in a telephone interview praised the Cayman Islands Football Association for the giant step it has taken in improving the football programme despite the team’s loss last Sunday in the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Qualifying game against Bermuda.
Murphy, 27, was born in the Cayman Islands where he grew up playing at the national level as a youth and represented the island as the number one goal keeper at both youth and senior level before leaving on a scholarship to Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee where he earned a degree in Communications and Advertising. He plays for Glenavon in the Irish Premier League.
‘Personally I feel the Minister of Sports Alden McLaughlin, President of the Cayman Islands Football Association Jeffrey Webb, Technical Director Carl Brown and his coaching staff has done a marvelous job in going the extra mile doing their part in taking the programme to this level,’ Murphy said.
‘It is unfortunate that we lost, we created the chances and could have sealed the issue from the first ten minutes of the game but as fate had it we did not capitalize on the opportunity and that will haunt us for a long time.
‘The programme has developed tremendously over the years, the selection of Carl Brown as technical director for the past seven months has taken the players to another level. The programme has made a huge improvement under his directions.
‘Never before has Cayman ever had as many as 30 players on a national squad at any given time training extensively at home and abroad. Brown is a great coach who has extended himself to the players as a father and motivational speaker as well. Should Brown get the full support of the football fraternity and continue on this track, the Cayman Islands will reach very far internationally.’
Murphy pointed out that many players are young and need to stay together, concentrating on the future playing together as a team so as to get more time to gel.
‘The game is now behind us we played well against a team which had three professional players. Caymanians for the first time were given financial incentives; this was made possible by Mr Webb and the FA board. I am the only professional on the team at the moment and the incentives certainly motivated them.
‘Jeff Webb has a passion for football and has proven to be a people person. This distinguished gentleman in my opinion is the football icon of the Cayman Islands. He is unstoppable as it relates to promoting football and helping these youngsters to reach the unreachable. I am a perfect example of his efforts I have reached where I am because of his efforts.’
Webb, according to Murphy has brought on board the Ministry of Sports and the corporate community like never before as the sponsors increased considerably during the World Cup campaign.
Murphy said that tears came to his eyes when he saw the transformation of the Truman Bodden Stadium on March 30. ‘Red covered the entire stadium and people were outside begging to come in. It was like a street carnival, with the reggae music, entertainers performing and the fireworks that was a pleasant surprise.
‘All of these activities is a living testimony of the level football has reached on the island. I am back home in Ireland and will be more that ready to come back as an ambassador to my country with the permission of my club whenever I am requested.’
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