Mighty Montserrat return to action on Wednesday 5th
September for the first time in 14 months with their opening Caribbean Cup
qualifier against Suriname. The match
will take place in Le Lamentin on the French island of Martinique, hosts for
this group of qualifiers.
The two teams have faced each other once before in a World
Cup qualifying match in March 2008, well over two years ahead of the 2010 World
Cup. On that occasion in the neutral
venue of Macoya, Trinidad, Suriname romped home to a 7-1 win. What was meant to be a two-legged first round
play-off became a one off match since neither side were able to provide a FIFA
approved venue for their home leg.
Magnificently named striker Vladmir Farrell scored
Montserrat’s only goal early in the second half which made it 2-1 at the time,
but Suriname ran riot in the second half.
Can Montserrat improve on that showing? Hopefully they can, but anything other than a
defeat remains unlikely.
Let’s not forget for one moment that Montserrat have never
won, or even drawn, a FIFA sanctioned match since becoming FIFA members
in1996. Their only wins were prior to
that, twice against similarly tiny Anguilla (who they also drew against once
and remain unbeaten against).
Suriname are currently ranked 135th by FIFA,
compared to Montserrat’s rock bottom 206th.
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