Belize plays St. Vincent & the Grenadines on Friday,
September 8, and French Guiana on Monday, September 12
by Charles Gladden
BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Sept. 7, 2023
Earlier this week, the Belize men’s national football team departed the country on Monday, September 4, for Martinique to begin its participation in the 2023-2024 Concacaf Nations League (CNL).
The 2023-24 Concacaf Nations League will serve as a qualifier for the 2024 Conmebol Copa America to be held within the United States, in which the top six teams from Concacaf will advance to the 16-team tournament.
For the purposes of this tournament, Concacaf has divided its 41 members into 3 Leagues – A (16 national teams), B (16 national teams) and C (9 national teams).
4 of League A’s 16 teams have already qualified to the CNL Quarterfinals, with the remaining 12 teams divided into 2 groups of 6 teams. After group double round-robin play, the top two teams from each group will join the already qualified 4, namely Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, and the United States in the quarterfinals. The other League A teams are: Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador, Martinique, Curacao, Nicaragua, Haiti, Jamaica, Honduras, Cuba, Suriname, and Grenada, making Belize the only Central American team not in League A.
Belize will be participating in League B which has 4 groups (A, B, C, and D) of 4 teams each. Belize is in Group C along with French Guiana, Bermuda, and Saint Vincent & the Grenadines. According to a Concacaf release, “each team will play every other team in their group, home and away, for a total of six matches per team (three at home and three away)”.
While the League A teams will be competing for the 6 places in the 2024 Conmebol Copa America, the League B teams are competing to qualify for League A in the next edition of this tournament. The 4 group winners in League B will advance to League A, while the 4 group last place teams in League B will get relegated to League C.
As Belize and other League B teams battle to advance to League A or avoid relegation to League C, so the League C teams (3 groups of 3 teams each) will see their 3 group winners along with the best second place finisher advancing to League B after their own double round-robin play.
Tomorrow, Friday, September 8, the Belize Jaguars take on Saint Vincent & the Grenadines at 2:00 p.m. at the Pierre-Aliker Stadium in Martinique; and on Monday, September 12, they travel to French Guiana to face the home team at 1:30 p.m. at the Stade Dr. Edmard Lama. The dates for their other 4 matches have not yet been released. Kuhn’go, Belize!
Following is the list of 21 players on the Belize National Men’s “A” Team, the Jaguars (name – club): goalkeepers – Charles Tillett (Port Layola FC), Luisito Caunil (Progresso FC); defenders – Kyle Flowers (Benque Police FC), Eugene Martinez (Vancouver FC), Deshawon Nembhard (Tormenta FC), Evral Trapp (Verdes FC), Alence Ayala (Verdes FC), Allan Barillas (Altitude FC), Makonnan Clare (Dalton United FC), Jahron Myvette (Verdes FC); midfielders – Nana Mensah (SCU Heat FC), Darrel Myvette (Verdes FC), Angelo Capello (Halifax FC), Eldon Reneau (Verdes FC), Andir Chi (Progresso FC), Zion Ramos (Verdes FC), Moises Hernandez (Benque United FC), Jordy Polanco (Verdes FC); forwards – Michael Palacio (Verdes FC), Krisean Lopez (Verdes FC), Carlos Bernardez (La Victoria FC).
Technical Staff: Head Coach – David Perez; Assistant Coach – Shane Orio; Assistant Coach – Dale Pelayo, Sr.; Manager – Ian Jones; Physical Trainer – Dennis Serano; Physical Therapist – Ben Aba; Doctor – Dr. Carlos Crespo; Equipment Manager – Herbert Trapp, Jr.