It's rare for us to play a caribbean nation that we know very very little about. We'll get to do this about once every four years and normally the games are interesting. Grenada was certainly fun to watch in '04. Here's what's come of my research of the Barbados National Team. It is about impossible to figure out their Outside backs and such. They almost all play domestically so we'll have to conceed that these defenders are most likely to be the starters and they will be near to one another in terms of ability. Here's what I know: Rouse will be the starting keeper. He is playing at Galway United in Ireland. I don't think he's starting for his club but I could be wrong. The four defenders James, Neblett, Rivier Williams, Brathwaite and maybe Straker all play domestically. Forte is an outside mid but I don't know which side he players on. He's known for his speed but doesn't seem to be an incredible scoring threat. He just has a few goals for his club Scunthorpe. Someone who follows the championship might be able to add more here. Nurse is typically a striker or right mid. I wouldn't be suprised to see him at A-mid centrally in this match but he's probably going to end up being one of the strikers or possibly a lone striker. Forde is the captain. Captains in most cases are center mids. He has experience with the national team but players domestically. He's likely to be a center midfielder and may be the source of their attack. He might be a pivot man but in any case he is likely to be stronger than other domestic players on the pitch. Defrietas by elimination is either a Left mid or will be filling in there unless Forte is the left sided winger. He players domestically. Rishad Williams is a striker, Players domestically as well. Romelle Burgess may feature. He plays in the Premier Developement League if that information isn't out of date. Stanford scored their goal in the last one I think he's probably their third striker and I would be suprised to see him in the match. Players to watch for: Boyce from Wigan will be tough to deal with. He will feature defensively and probably centrally and as weak as our strikers have been we may need an Altidore to really put a body on him, draw his attention to open holes for Donovan, Dempsey, Adu, Ching?. Watch for Forte to be their transition man. They are planning to counter attack on us. He's likely to be the one to carry the ball forward. Defense to Forte or Forde to Nurse to goal is the likely plan on a counter. Nurse is their primary striker. he players for Dagenham & Redbridge. Confrense National Champs from last year now in League two. Anyone who players in an english professional league is someone we need to worry about. Forde - I'm guessing but being a captain and a midfielder probably indicates he's a ball mover. I expect he'll recieve it and lay it off quickly and help to transition the team quickly. His targets would be Nurse and Forte I'm sure. Harvey plays for a team in a league lower than the Confrence National. But it is English and he's likely to be physical. I expect he'll be the target man striker with Nurse dropping into the midfield and withdrawing a bit more. They are likely to pack it in a bit and having a premier league quality defender fastening things down in the middle is likely to make it very tough on them. Our saving grace is that he's been capped just once. He cannot have formed a relationship or communicated much with his fellow defenders so miscommunication with defenders and the goalkeeper is likely to result in a US goal. Throwing Boyce off his game and attacking the wings is how we'll break them down. I hope Beasley is back by then. My guess at their lineup: Rouse James, Neblett, Boyce, Brathwaite Forte, Forde (C), Vaughan, Defreitas Nurse, Harvey ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I've never seen them play. I'm researching their lineup and if you read through what I'm writing I'm guessing. These are educated guesses but I could be right or I could be miles off. Part of doing this is to educate myself and other US fans about our strange opponent. The other part is that breaking down the Barbados team is really quite a bit of fun. I enjoy making these predictions and seeing whether I'm right or not. We'll see how it goes, but either way. I'm not a source of fact. I'm a speculator. Can you lend a hand figuring these guys out?
A nice place, once you get out of Bridgetown. Some of the best swimming beaches in the world on the Caribbean side. The Atlantic side is rough and tumble, with lots of rocks and dangerous currents. On the north side of the island you will find a nice wildlife reserve, complete with turtles, monkeys and birds. Definitely worth a few hours. The people of Barbados aren't quite as friendly as those you'll find in places like Sint Maarten, but they are much friendlier than those found in places like Martinique. (Basing this entirely on personal experiences.) All in all, it's a very nice place to spend a few days on a "my soccer team is better than your soccer team" vacation.
I should mention... Gregory Goodridge has experience in the lower english leagues. He is quite old now but I don't think he's retired... just playing domestically. Paul Ifill is a little more likely to appear, probably as an attacking minded midfielder probably in place of Vaughan. He's got 6 goals in 8 international appearances with a hattrick against Antigua and Barbuda. Mark McCammon would be a likely appearance at striker for the nats along side Nurse. They may also drop he or Nurse back into the midfield to utilize a 4-5-1. McCammon is currently playing with Doncaster in league 1 I think Louie Soares showed early promise, and he's very young but didn't appear in either qualification match. We might see him but I doubt it. He's trained with Reading before but never had a professional contract in england as far as I know. He still plays domestically with 2 caps. So when you add those players they look much more imposing. Rouse James, Neblett, Boyce, Braithwaite Forte, Forde (C), Ifill, Defreitas Nurse, McCammon That's a lineup that could force an upset. I wouldn't take these guys lightly. We've had trouble putting away the minnows before. Scoring early will be the key.
Barbados, situated just east of the Caribbean Sea, is an independent island nation in the western Atlantic Ocean. At roughly 13° North of the equator and 59° West of the prime meridian, the country lies in the southern Caribbean region, where its considered a part of the Lesser Antilles island-chain. Its closest island neighbours are Saint Vincent and Saint Lucia to the west. To the south lies Trinidad and Tobago—with which Barbados now shares a fixed official maritime boundary—and also the South American mainland. Barbados's total land area is about 430 square kilometres (166 square miles), and is primarily low-lying, with some higher regions in the country's interior. The geological composition of Barbados is thought to be of non-volcanic origin and is predominantly composed of limestone-coral formed by subduction of the South American plate colliding with the Caribbean plate. The island's climate is tropical, with constant trade winds off the Atlantic Ocean serving to keep temperatures mild. Some more undeveloped areas of the country contain tropical woodland and scrubland. Other parts of the interior which contribute to the agriculture industry are dotted with large sugarcane estates and wide, gently sloping pastures, with views down to the coast. Barbados has one of the highest standards of living and literacy rates worldwide. Barbados's human development index ranking is consistently among the top 50 in the world. For example, in 2006, it was ranked 31st in the world, and third in the Americas, behind Canada and the United States. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbados
Umm... We're analyzing their national team. Not their country. I'de hope people know where it is or have at least narrowed it down by now. Pretty interesting how few people read the first post a thread before posting.
Previous matches between the US and Barbados... Aug. 16, 2000...........Barbados *............7-0 W.........Foxboro, Mass.......................18,334 Friedel, Sanneh, Berhalter, Pope-1 (Lewis), Regis, Stewart-1, Armas (O'Brien-1), Reyna (Ramos-1), Jones, Moore-2, McBride-1 Nov. 15, 2000...........Barbados *............4-0 W.........Waterford, Barbados..................4,000 Meola, Agoos, Berhalter, Llamosa, Armas, Klein, Lewis (Jones-1), Ramos, Stewart-1, Moore (Razov-1), Mathis-1 (Williams) *World Cup qualifier
Expect them to be stronger. Harewood hasn't appeared yet as far as I know so probably not well. But we won't know for sure until June I suppose.
Try here: http://www.barbadossoccer.com/ They have a help wanted on their front page: ARE YOU BARBADIAN BY BIRTH, NATIONALITY, OR DESCENT? LET US CHECK IT OUT FOR YOU DO YOU PLAY FOOTBALL PROFESSIONALLY? WOULD YOU LIKE TO BECOME A MEMBER OF BARBADOS' NATIONAL FOOTBALL PROGRAMME? Seniors, Youth, Women. SEND US A NOTE AT bdosfootball@caribsurf.com or ronalddac@yahoo.com. DIGICEL CUP, CONCACAF GOLD CUP & WORLD CUP 2010 SOUTH AFRICA BECKON. GIVE BARBADOS A CHANCE.
Apparently there are two Fordes. I assume Michael Forde has now retired or isn't getting call ups but he is the Forde who appeared as a sub against the US in the 57th minutes. Norman Forde is the Forde in the current lineup. He did play in the match vs Guatemala preceeding the US game but not in the US game itself. http://rsssf.com/tablesb/barb-intres-detwcq.html Pretty good memory though.