I'm curious, what with the first round of CONCACAF qualifying looming, what some of the smaller Caribbean teams are like. I know about Jamaica, T & T and Barbados. I'm curious especially about some of the smaller teams in the Antilles (Grenada, St. Kitts, etc.). I know some of the players (Shalrie Joseph, Jason Roberts, David Flavius, Ezra Hendrickson), but am curious to know how the teams stack up. Thanks.
Collectivley they suck. Although I think Barbados isn't that bad. Whatever, I hope we draw as many as them as possible. Away to Nassau? Oh, yes.
There are a few caribbean players playing outside of their home country that are decent. Anthony Modeste from Grenada is starting in midfield for Jamaica's champions, Hazard United. W Connection in Trinidad (who were runners up) have several St. Lucians: forwards Titus Elva and Earl Jean and defender Elijah Joseph. They also have St. Kitts forward George Isaac. Trinidad actually has many foreign players. Gayson Gregory from Antigua plays there. Other St. Lucians include Valencius Joseph and Sheldon Emmanuel. David Bascome of Bermuda is in the MISL and John Barry Nusum, also of Bermuda, is somewhere in the A-League. There is a fellow from Barbados in the A-league too, but I can't remember his name right now. Cuba's nats are all playing in Cuba for obvious reasons. Lester More is their top forward, although he was quite ineffective vs the usa. Besides Trinidad and Jamaica, I would rank the teams as: 1. Cuba - obviously; just came off an extremely successful Gold Cup qualifying (in March) where they beat Guadeloupe 3:2, Antigua & Barbuda 2:0, and Trinidad 3:1 (in Trinidad!). Team on the rise that will probably be even better by the time WCQ starts. 2. Haiti - Traditionally one of the top caribbean sides, but have played poorly recently. In their gold cup qualifiers they won their opener against Martinique (a quality side) 2-1, but then lost to Jamaica 3:0 and were upset by St. Lucia 2:1. They have been under criticism and will be rebuilding. Lost 5-1 in Peru in February. 3. St. Lucia - Not too worried, but they seem to play to the level of their opponent. In the past year they beat Trinidad and Haiti, and was minutes away from qualifying for the Gold Cup when they were up on Martinique 4-1 before loosing 5-4. Obviously a bit inconsistent. After that Barbados, Antigua, St. Vincent, and Suriname. The rest of the teams are made up of local amateur/semi-pro players along with many currently in US colleges.