Barbados’ senior football team returned home as the League B, Group B leaders, with head coach Kent Hall and captain Andre Applewaite setting their sights on maintaining the top spot in the Concacaf Nations League.
The Bajan Tridents arrived on Tuesday after a 2-0 win over Saint Lucia last Friday, and a thrilling 2-2 draw with Guadeloupe on Monday, at the Daren Sammy Stadium in Saint Lucia.
Speaking to Barbados TODAY moments after they arrived, the pair were upbeat ahead of their back-to-back games against Bermuda on October 2 and 5 at the BFA Technical Centre in Wildey.
While Applewaite was disappointed not to have won Monday’s game against Guadeloupe, he was pleased with the fight shown by the team to come from a goal down.
Captain Andre Applewaite is also upbeat. (Photo Credit: Kurtis Hinds)
“It was tough conditions with the heat and stuff and they are a very good team, so to put out that performance and come from a goal down was excellent.”
The game was goalless at half-time, which the captain described as part of the plan.
“After coming out in the second half, we conceded early. Coach was just motivating the guys to push and when we made the substitutions, it changed the game,” the captain explained.
“We definitely want to be at the top of the table, so going into the final two games, we will put our best foot forward and look for the wins at home. Obviously we want to win both, but I think we’ll need the home support. That would be very important going into these two games, so we are just encouraging everyone to come out and support us,” Applewaite added.
Coach Hall is equally satisfied with his team’s progress so far, but has urged them to remain focused and well grounded ahead of the upcoming game.
“We’ve got to remind ourselves we’re only one third of the way through this campaign and only halfway through this window, but what I am most pleased about is, not just the results, but I think everybody’s in a pretty good state (physically) right now.
“There’s still a couple of players that got more minutes than we planned for, but we’re in a good spot going into these two matches at home right now and we’re really hoping for a little extra boost from the home fans to come out and be the 12th man for us,” Hall explained.
According to the head coach, with good results in the next two matches, going into November, Barbados will be in a strong position to qualify for the Concacaf Gold Cup for the first time.
Like captain Applewaite, Hall has regrets over the drawn game on Monday, but refuses to dwell on the past.
“It still pops into my head every few minutes, but we’re still very much focused on going forward because what’s done is done.
“Fortunately, it was not an actual loss and fortunately we’re still in a really strong position, so we have everything to play for and every opportunity still to top the group, so we’re gonna just dust off of that and we’re just looking forward now,” Hall stated.
(KH)
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