Jamaica, Suriname U-23s in decider

PARAMARIBO, Suriname—Jamaica and host Surimane will face off today for the lone available spot to the second round of the Caribbean Football Union Under-23 London Olympic qualifiers. The CFU first round Group A clash between Suriname and Jamaica, both with six points kicks off at the Andre Kamperveen Stadium at 6.30 pm with the host only needing a point to win the group and qualify based on a better goal-difference. Two hours earlier, St Vincent and The Grenadines and Cayman Islands meet in the other match. On Friday, night, Jamaica got a 14th-minute goal from Alonzo Adlam to edge Cayman Islands 1-0 and improved to maximum six points.

However, Suriname got a double from Giovanni Drenthe, in the third and 24th minute in a 3-1 defeat of St Vincent and The Grenadines. Giovanni Gerrit Waal got the other goal for the host after Wendell Cuffy had briefly tied up the score in the 19th minute. In Wednesday’s opening round of matches, the young Reggae Boyz recovered from a nervy start to beat  St Vincent and the Grenadines team 2-0 with  Romeo Parkes (51st) and Leaunghn Williams (70th), the players on target. In the night’s second match, Stefano Rijssel scored twice (20th & 46th) while Xaviero (15th) and Drenthe (89th) netted as Suriname coasted to a 5-0 blow-out of Cayman Islands. Luigi Hernandez also conceded an own goal in the 34th minute. The four-team group will qualify one team to the second round where T&T, Cuba and St Kitts/Nevis await.

The young Soca Warriors, coached by former national captain Angus Eve, won Group B after wins over Grenada (1-0) and Dominica (4-0) and a 1-1 draw with Netherlands Antilles. The Cubans qualified after beating Aruba (7-0) and Guyana (1-0) in Group C while St Kitts/Nevis had victories over St Lucia, Antigua & Barbuda and Haiti, all by 2-1 margins at home last week. The CFU four-team final-round tournament is carded for November at a venue to be decided from which two teams will advance to the eight-team CONCACAF finals. Three Central American teams along with automatic qualifiers USA, Canada and Mexico will contest the final round.

Standings

Teams    P    W    D    L    F    A    Pts
Suriname    2    2    0    0    8    1    6
Jamaica    2    2    0    0    3    0    6
SVG    2    0    0    2    1    5    0
Cayman Islands    2    0    0    2    0    6    0