The Bahamas' senior men's national soccer team has marked October 14 and October 17 on its calendar as those are the dates that they will take on Antigua and Barbuda in two key matchups in the CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) Nations League's League B Group D action.
The match on October 14 will feature The Bahamas hosting Antigua and Barbuda at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium, looking to feast off some home cooking. That match gets underway at 6 p.m. on Saturday. Both teams will travel to Antigua and Barbuda and The Bahamas will look to get a win on October 17 at the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association's Technical Center in Piggotts, Antigua and Barbuda. That game gets underway at 3.30 p.m. on Tuesday October 17.
The Bahamas' 21-member team includes Lesly St. Fleur, Christopher Rahming, Cameron Pratt, William Bayles, William Gardiner, Alexiou Cartwright, Phieron Wilson, Wood Julmis, Nahum Johnson, Ricardo McPhee, Nathan Wells, Miguel Thompson, Michael Butler, Omari Bain, Marcel Joseph, Nicolas Lopez, Jonathan Miller, Jean Tilo, Jack Massey, Brody Wheaton and Amard Adderley.
Assistant Coach for The Bahamas Kevin Davies said he is looking to see progress from the team.
"The players have been putting in the work. The team is almost ready. We're looking for better results moving forward. Even though we lost our last two matches, there was great improvement between games one and two. I'm looking forward to more improvement in the game on Saturday," Davies said.
He also said that the team has some players returning and that some of the players from the first window of the nations league action were unavailable.
"I don't see any weakness from the first two teams who played to this team in the upcoming games this weekend. The players are talented, the guys coming in at the same talent level, so there should be no fall-off in the team. We won't talk about strategy. You'll have to come out on Saturday and see what our strategy is going to be, but I know for sure that the guys are hungry and they want to prove to themselves that they can do the job," Davies stated.
The Bahamas has racked up three goals in two games in this edition of the nations league - a better showing offensively from last season when they scored two goals in six matches.
The top three teams will stay in League B so a lot is at stake for both sides. The Bahamas is in third place in the group despite not having won a match in the two games they played in. Antigua and Barbuda is also looking for its first point of the tournament. The Bahamas leads them on goal difference, -6 to -9.
Puerto Rico leads the group with six points as it holds the tiebreaker over Guyana who also has six points. Puerto Rico has a goal difference of 10 goals to five for Guyana.
Davies was clear when he said the players do not have the pressure like the coaching staff has in the upcoming game on Saturday.
"These are veteran players who we have here so they understand what's at stake. You may feel pressure, but once the game starts, everything else on the outside goes away, so you're just focused on the task at hand. So, the pressure, is for us as the coaches. As you're well aware, if the team wins, the players did an excellent job, if the team loses, it is the coach's fault. It is on us, and that's something that we need to fix," Davies stated.
St. Fleur, who was The Bahamas' captain in the first game, was not available for the last match which was against Guyana because of a groin injury, but he is ready.
"I'm fully back," St. Fleur said. "My readiness for the game is 100 percent and we've been putting in the work. With me being around the players, everyone's confidence is up and they're ready to play. We just need The Bahamas' support so come out and support the team on Saturday as we put on a great show," St. Fleur said.
Filling in for him with the captain's arm band was Rahming. Rahming said the team is focused on playing their game.
"I think this game, I think we're less focused on what the other team is doing but trying to focus on what we want to do. I think going forward, we are looking to do our best, everyone coming, they seem to be in top shape. ... From game one and two, I guess we're playing a bit more reserved. I guess we're looking to change it a bit," Rahming said.
Tickets for the game are $20 for adults and $7 for children.
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