‘ We will compete’- Wayde Jackson

The man in charge of putting together the right combination of players on the field for St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), at the upcoming Concacaf Under-20 male qualifiers in Trinidad and Tobago, Wayne Jackson, is confident that his charges will compete.

Jackson’s men are placed in Group D of the qualifiers where they are pitted against Canada, Dominica, and host Trinidad and Tobago.

The Vincentians first play Trinidad and Tobago on February 23, 2024, then two days later, oppose Canada on February 25, and finally Dominica, on February 27.

Acknowledging that they are in a tough group, Jackson nevertheless believes that the amount of preparatory work they have put in would see them matching their opponents.

“ We began since September of last year within the various zones, getting the players to buy into the system. Then in January of this year, we had a series of inter-zonal matches at the Brighton Playing Field, and that helped us in trimming the squad,” Jackson pointed out.

Revealing that the preparations were locally centred, Jackson said that there were several matches versus senior men’s representative teams as well as other clubs.

“ We did not have international friendlies, but the matches against the national teams and the club teams were adequate in our preparations and I am happy with my players as our objectives were achieved… It is now for them to go to Trinidad and Tobago and execute the plans as best as possible”, Jackson related.

The head coach underlined that the players are up the challenge, and are prepared to put what they have been doing for the past five months into practice.

Six groups are competing in this phase of the preliminary round of the qualifiers.

Making up Group A are Cuba, Nicaragua, Belize, the British Virgin Islands , as well as Anguilla. Group B is composed of El Salvador, Antigua and Barbuda, Suriname, Guyana and the Turks and Caicos Islands; while in Group C are Guatemala, Curacao, Aruba, Saint Martin and Barbados. Group E comprises Haiti, Puerto Rico, St Kitts and Nevis, and the Cayman Islands; and Group F contains

Jamaica, Bermuda, Grenada and Martinique.

The group winners will advance to the next round where they will be joined by the USA, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Panama and Costa Rica.

The 12 teams will be placed in three groups of four where they will engage in round robin play.

The two top teams from the three groups, along with the two best second places, will enter into a knock out phase, comprising of quarter finals, semi-finals and finals.

Those making it to the semifinals will thus gain berths to the FIFA finals that are slated to take place in Chile in 2025.