Football fans and supporters are in for more international football when the St. Kitts & Nevis Senior Men’s National Football Team engages the visiting Grenada National Football Team at Warner Park, in a friendly football international, on Saturday, 2nd December.
Technical Director Lenny Lake of the St. Kitts-Nevis Football Association (SKNFA) said the match is a continuation of the development strategy for the senior men’s national team.
“Grenada has shown that they are developing fast. They would have played recently against Trinidad and Tobago. They led the game for most of the period and ended with a draw,” the technical director pointed out.
“I believe tomorrow, we are going to have a great match on our hand. We are asking the public to come out and support the national team,” Lenny encouraged.
He explained that most of the players will be locally based players, most playing in the Premier League.
“It is an opportunity for persons to see them perform at the international level in a friendly encounter… Over 80 per cent of the players play here in St. Kitts and Nevis,” Lenny disclosed.
Throughout the 2017 program, the senior men’s national team played several international friendlies at home, in the region and in Europe.
Lenny explained, “The main thing is to have your senior national team active and not waiting on CFU, or CONCACAF, to call a tournament to prepare for that tournament. It is an ongoing process. We want to have a national senior team program that is consistent. We want to make sure that there are opportunities for national team players to play, both locally and internationally, so that when we call a game in the international window, we can call on our players.”
The SKNFA also wants to have its senior players ready for 2018 and 2019 tournaments and other encounters. “Players must be ready for selection and participation”, Lenny said.
And, the SKNFA is also looking at long-term aspirations, including qualifying for the CONCACAF Gold Cup and also preparing for the 2022 World Cup in Quatar.
Ongoing football engagements not only keeps the players match ready, they also help to improve our FIFA ranking, the technical director explained.