USL Feature
Thursday, June 7, 2012
BRADENTON, Fla. – Five days away from the biggest game in his country’s soccer history, against the U.S. Men’s National Team on Friday night in Tampa, Fla., Antigua and Barbuda team manager Fernando Abraham had a broad smile on his face.
The smile was there with good reason, with the plan the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association had put in place two years ago having come to fruition exactly as he had hoped it would.
“Yes, we were expecting to be here, because the program is a program we believe in,” Abraham said as his players prepared to depart the training fields at the IMG Soccer Academy. “We knew that if we got the guys playing football on a daily basis, rather than part-time, it was always going to be like this if they were in a setting where they could compete with almost any team in the Caribbean, and next in the CONCACAF Zone.”
The rise of Antigua and Barbuda in soccer circles, with the country reaching the third round of World Cup Qualifying for the first time after winning its group in the second round late last year, has been a fast one, aided in part by the introduction of USL PRO’s Antigua Barracuda FC. Having struggled since its first game in 1972, the greater levels of organization and preparation on and off the field built through Barracuda FC has paid immediate dividends. Following its victory against Haiti - considered the favorite to advance before the second round of qualifying began - that clinched its advancement, the country moved up to its highest FIFA ranking in history, checking in at No. 83 in the world.
For the veteran players, the difference between qualifying during this cycle and even four years ago has been impressive.
“From the first time I made the Antigua team, to now, it’s much easier than before,” forward Peter Byers said. “Before, it was harder to make a team. Obviously we’re moving forward and making big strides right now.”
Byers has been one of the mainstays on the current Antigua and Barbuda side, and for the Barracudas this season in USL PRO. Since scoring his first goal against Trinidad and Tobago in an international exhibition in 2005, ‘Big Pete’ has scored 31 times for his country, including eight goals in the second round of World Cup Qualifying last year, and is third only to captain George Dublin (42 caps) and Gayson Gregory (38) in appearances.
Maybe the biggest catalyst behind the transformation, though, has been Coach Tom Curtis, whom Abraham gives a lot of credit for the progress the side has made. A former player in England, Curtis went on to become the coach at Loughborough University, considered the top university for sport in the United Kingdom, before taking the reins in Antigua.
“What Tom Curtis has brought to the national team, as well as the Barracudas, is the fact that he’s a coach that pays a lot of attention to detail,” Abraham said. “He’s an organized coach, and the team is a lot more organized since Tom has been around. I’ve played football for Antigua for years. I’ve seen players actively playing for a long time, and we’ve had good players before, but I think the most important thing right now is the organization of the football, that is the thing Tom has brought.”
Curtis is also involved in the lower levels of development in Antigua soccer, aiding the country’s youth development programs that will hopefully provide players that can play for the Barracudas and the national team in the future. While Abraham is delighted with the early progress the country has made, the long-term remains to have a team that is capable of qualifying for a World Cup.
“Of course, I’m very excited and very happy,” Abraham said. “This is what we planned for, this is what we hoped to see, something better in the future, and we have a lot of elite programs in the country that Tom is a part of also where we’re working toward making sure that this is continuous, and in the future we’ll have a top team.”
For the current crop, which includes a number of players under the age of 24, the opportunity to play together on a consistent basis, in addition to being part of a fully professional program, has allowed the team to come together off the field as well as on.
“It’s not a group, we don’t think of ourselves as a group, we’re a family,” goalkeeper Molvin James said. “Sometimes, you have family falling out and back in, but at the end of the day, we are all together and we’re all for one, and one for all.”
The side is considered the outsider to advance from its group, Jamaica and Guatemala making up the quartet vying for two berths in the final round. But with that type of attitude, and the continued growth of soccer in a country long-dominated by cricket, it might not be too long before Antigua and Barbuda is a contender to reach its first World Cup.
For now, though, Abraham is going to just soak in the atmosphere at Raymond James Stadium on Friday night.
“To be quite honest, I’m not sure how I’m going to be feeling at the moment, because it’s a very, very exciting time,” he said. “It’s history in the making. We’ve never played the United States before in any competition, it’s the first time we’re coming up against them, and I’m extremely happy for the guys and for the team, and for Antigua.”