International football returns to SVG

International football will return to the Arnos Vale Playing Field on April 6, after an almost three -year break.

This, when St Vincent and the Grenadines senior women’s team meet their counterparts from the British Virgin Islands in Group E of the Concacaf World Cup Qualifiers.

The April 6 encounter will be the first live international football event since the Men’s Nations League Qualifiers in 2019 .

The match, though, would be the first fully vaccinated international football event to be staged here.

Hence, the Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment has approved the hosting the match, but in keeping with the COVID- 19 guidelines.

The Vincentian women were forced to play their home match versus Haiti last month in Cuba, while the senior men’s team were faced with a similar predicament last year. In the men’s world cup qualifiers, the Vincentians played their designated home matches versus the British Virgin Islands in Curacao and Cuba in Grenada.

St Vincent and the Grenadines’ women have stepped up their training in preparation for the BVI encounter.

In their previous outing the Vincentians were defeated 3-0 by Cuba and suffered an 11-0 drubbing from the feet of Haiti.

However, St Vincent and the Grenadines’ head coach, Cornelius Huggins, promises a better showing from his charges.

The Vincentian team in training include goal keepers-Altica Benn, Marsha Marshall and Tishana James. The defenders are Amalis Marshall, Ashanti Douglas, Kendra Findlay, Rea Dawn Nanton, Samayaa Connell, Shanyah Peters, Shelly Browne, Zaneke George, Zeyana Charles, Ikeya Providence, Shaielle Williams, Deandrea Barbour, Shannell Lampkin, Kanyan Douglas and Keisha Morgan, with Ashante Browne, Denella Creese, Dionte Delpesche, Esreen Quow, Hollester Browne, Jessica Miller, Kaywana Byron, Kitanna Richards, Kristiane Wyllie and Asanteni Charles, making up the list of midfielders. Those in the striking positions are Areka Hooper, Denel Creese, Toehsa Culzac and Sherese Cyrus.
Following their match against the BVI, the Vincentian women will travel on April 10, to meet Honduras two days later at the Francisco Morazan Stadium in San Pedro Sula.