From left: Suriname player Claidel Kohinor, Coach of St. Kitts and Nevis team Jacques Passy, Captain Romaine Sawyers and Suriname’s coach Dean Gorré.
With just hours to go before the St. Kitts Nevis Senior Men’s National Team face Suriname in the most important match in the history of St. Kitts Nevis football, national coach Jacques Passy is confident the team will win tonight’s match. The Sugar Boys will face Suriname tonight at the Andre Kemperveen Stadium in Paramaribo, Suriname in a crucial Concacaf Nations League match. A victory in this match for St. Kitts and Nevis will book a spot in the highly coveted Concacaf Gold Cup this summer for the first time ever—a historic feat for the twin island Federation.
“My philosophy has always been a philosophy of no excuses. The team that we brought is a strong team and that’s the team I am happy with at the moment,” Coach Passy said at a pre-match press conference held at a facility of the Suriname Football Federation in Paramaribo Friday, just over 24 hours before the match. Coach Passy was full of praises for his opponents and believes tonight’s game will be evenly matched. “We are playing a good team and we are playing in Suriname where Suriname is strong so I think that (the match) will be a great match. We like our chances, we want to win. We are going to play to win this game because want to make history,” Coach Passy said.
Meanwhile, Captain for the Sugar Boys, Romaine Sawyers said the players are ready and rearing to go and that each player is a capable of adapting to whatever is needed to make the team succeed. But like his coach, he is wary of the threat of Suriname. “We’ve shown we can beat Suriname before but at the same time Suriname are now more determined to get us back. We won two years ago and I am sure they want to seek revenge for that victory that we had and also wanting to give themselves a great chance to get to the Gold Cup,” he said.
On the other hand, coach of the Suriname team Dean Gorré was also full of praises for the St. Kitts and Nevis team and is not prepared to take the Sugar Boys lightly. “We are going to work hard and show our best to show the talent we have…we studied you and we know what kind of test we have in front of us,” Gorré said. “This game will be a good game because both teams need three points.”
Both coaches acknowledged the importance of winning tonight’s match. The Sugar Boys had their final training session on Friday evening at the match stadium and are rested and ready to go tonight. Below is a list of the full squad announced by Coach Passy prior to their trip to Suriname.
St. Kitts and Nevis announced 22 players for its final and decisive match versus Suriname on March 23 in Paramaribo. St. Kitts and Nevis will need a win to see the twin island Federation into it’s first Concacaf Gold Cup later this year.
1. Julani Archibald
2. Jamal Francis
3. Zeleon Morton
4. Thrizen Leader
5. Justin Springer
6. Alain Sargeant
7. Gerard Williams
8. Raheem Hanley
9. Theo Wharton
10. Orlando Mitchum
11. Yohannes Mitchum
12. Kimaree Rogers
13. Joash Leader
14. Devaughn Elliot
15. Romaine Sawyers
16. Harrison Panayiotou
17. Rowan Liburd
18. Omari Sterling
19. Tahir Hanley
20. Raheem Francis
21. Tiquanny Williams
22. Tishan Hanley
Jacques Passy – Head Coach
Shaun Simon – Assistant Manager
EDUARDO SUAREZ – Goalkeeper Coach
Earl Jones – Assistant Coach
Jonathan Himelfarb – Assistant Coach
Jamir Claxton – Team Manager
Kenneth Douglas – Physiotherapist
Allister James – Trainer
Roger Hendricks – Equipment Manager
Leroy Sweeney – Asst Equipment Manager
The match gets underway at 6:30pm Eastern Caribbean Time and will be streamed live on the https://www.concacaf.com/