BELIZE CITY, Mon. Nov. 8, 2021 — Leaving the Jewel on Friday, November 5, was the Belize National Men’s U20 team who are currently participating in the Concacaf Men’s U20 Qualifiers (CMU20) which take place from November 5-13 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
The Belize team consists of players: goalkeepers – #1 Isaac Castillo (captain) and #12 Earl Dyck; defenders – #2 Calvin Reid, #4 Jordan Casanova, #14 Kendale Butler, #15 Shamari Flowers, #16 Edwin Gomez, #3 Dwight Brown, and #5 Donovan Quintanilla; midfielders – #8 Kevin Higinio, #10 Eldon Reneau, #13 Tyrese Augustine, #6 Zion Ramos, #7 Allison Torres, #17 Andres Miranda, #18 Jervi Cante, #19 Javan Belisle, and #20 Stiven Milla; and forwards – #9 Jaden Dubon, and #11 Daijon Daniels.
Head coach of the Belize Men’s U20 is Dale Pelayo; and his assistant is Lester Serano. Other members of the Belize contingent include: goalkeeper coach – Stanley Reneau; physiotherapist – Thomas Rivars; physical trainer – Dennis Serano; Kitman – Herbert Trapp, Jr.; and club official – Philip Marin.
Some 18 men’s U-20 teams are participating in the Qualifiers (all ranked 17 or below based on the current Concacaf Men’s U-20 Ranking), and they are divided into 4 groups, two groups of 5 teams each and two groups of 4 teams, as follows:
Group A – Curacao, Grenada, Dominica, Saint Maarten, and British Virgin Islands
Group B – Dominican Republic, Saint Lucia, Belize, Saint Martin, and Anguilla
Group C – Bermuda, Puerto Rico, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Barbados
Group D – Nicaragua, Guyana, Cayman Islands, and U.S. Virgin Islands
The top 4 teams from the Qualifiers will get to join the other 16 top-ranked Concacaf Men’s U-20 teams, who have all received a bye to the 2022 Concacaf Men’s U-20 Championship next summer. The top two teams (the finalists) from the 2022 CMU20 Championship will then qualify to the FIFA Men’s U-20 World Cup Indonesia 2023 and the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games; while the two losing semifinalists also get to participate in the FIFA Men’s U-20 World Cup Indonesia 2023.
Of course, all that is still a far off dream for a Belize U-20 team that appears to be still struggling to become a cohesive unit.
As one of 5 teams in Group B, Belize played its first of four scheduled games yesterday, where we drew 0-0 with Saint Lucia.
Belize is scheduled to play against Saint Martin on Tuesday, November 9; vs Dominican Republic on Thursday, November 11; and vs Anguilla on Saturday, November 13.
Let’s go, Belize!!
