Belize Jaguars Return Home after Win Against Turks & Caicos
They are home. The national male football team, the Belize Jaguars, touched down at the P.G.I.A. this afternoon after defeating Turks and Caicos on Tuesday with a whopping final score of five-nil. It was a big win for the team who days earlier had been defeated by Haiti after coming under attack upon arrival at that island country last week. Today, when the team exited the arrival area, they were greeted by family and friends as well as festive drumming. News Five’s Duane Moody reports.
Duane Moody, Reporting
It was a blowout for the Turks and Caicos national football team on Tuesday when the Belize Jaguars played their hearts out at the field as the country’s home game took place in the Dominican Republic. Carlos Garcia scored two goals, while Deshawon Nembhard, star striker Deon McCaulay and Jesse August got one goal each.
Jesse August
Jesse August, Belize Jaguars
“It’s a dream come true. I’ve been working to be here so I felt a little bit emotional, but it’s already passed so I am still happy that I scored my first international goal in the highest level.”
Today, the team returned to the Jewel and we took the opportunity to ask Everal Trapp about how the team was able to bounce back from the defeat by Haiti days earlier to trounce Turks and Caicos.
Everal Trapp, Belize Jaguars
“Although we played the first game and lost two-nil against the Haitian team, we never gave up and kept on working on and off the field with my teammates and the coach and we came out victorious on the second game.”
Duane Moody
“Do you feel that you guys had to redeem yourselves from the game with Haiti that’s why you went out there with a renewed fire against the team yesterday?”
Everal Trapp
Everal Trapp
“Indeed yes. Because we lost two-one and we lost by two errors and thing. But we gone back to the drawing board with the coaching staff and the teams and we said we got to buckle up and we gotta stay focus and we come out, do the job together and got a victory for the country.”
Marlon Kuylen, Executive Member, F.F.B.
“It was redemption for the boys because after all they went through in Haiti, they went and put everything out there on the pitch and I can tell you that they were not happy with the results because they know they could have done better. The defence held up well, but the offense sputters. So they couldn’t wait to get back on the field yesterday to show what they are capable of. Of course, Haiti was a much better opponent, but they went out there yesterday to get out all frustration that they had and to score as much goals as possible so that you could stay in the hunt to advance to the next round.”
The mission is to get Belize one step closer to the World Cup and winning the matches in these qualifying rounds is important. At this point in time, the country is tied with Nicaragua and Haiti. F.F.B. Executive Member Marlon Kuylen explains what happens next to keep Belize in the running.
Marlon Kuylen
Marlon Kuylen
“Haiti, Nicaragua and Belize has three points. For us to advance to the second round, we would have to beat Nicaragua – our only match that remains – hope that Nicaragua beats Haiti and that our goal average would take us forward. But it is not out of sight, but there are a lot of things that need to happen. But we just need to win and we need to win convincingly.”
The match against the formidable Nicaragua national team is set for sometime in June. The success so far is great, despite the fact that the players trained virtually and on their own and not as a team. Kuylen says that going forward, the team needs to practice together.
Marlon Kuylen
“It certainly hampered them in the first match because if you haven’t played for a year, you’re not in game rhythm. It is like you’re coming off a sickness and you need therapy and they didn’t have therapy, per se. So it showed in the first match. Like I said earlier, we hope that government decides that the cases are going down, that under some controls and protocols that we have already forwarded to them – empty stadiums, etc – that we can start playing again so that in two months time when we play Nicaragua, we are in better rhythm.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
