Barbados’ history-making Under-15 footballers returned home on Monday as Tier F consolation champions of the Fifa World Cup in Azerbaijan, having become the first national team to represent the island at a Fifa World Cup finals.
The young Tridents touched down at the Grantley Adams International Airport after their campaign in Baku, where they bounced back from a difficult opening round to finish the tournament on a high and give Barbados a historic first taste of Fifa World Cup success.
In addition to a number of proud parents, family members and supporters, the squad was met by a high-powered delegation including Minister of Sport Charles Griffith, Director of Sport at the National Sports Council Neil Murrell, Minister of Legal Affairs and Criminal Justice Michael Lashley, whose son is a member of the team, along with Barbados Football Association (BFA) President Randy Harris and BFA General Secretary, Nicholas Branker.
The U-15 FIFA World Cup team were all smiles at the Grantley Adams International Airport where they were met by a number of government and Barbados Football Association officials as well as family members. (Photo by: Kurtis Hinds)
For captain Danari Griffith who scored the first ever goal for Barbados at a World Cup finals, the event was a wonderful experience for him and his team.
“I think the boys enjoyed themselves despite the tough opponents at the start. We picked up as the tournament progressed and it showed in the results coming down to the end.
“At first the boys were a bit more relaxed, but as the tournament progressed we got more and more serious.”
Griffith said he was proud to score the island’s first-ever World Cup goal.
“I was ecstatic.To me there’s no better feeling, it’s always a great feeling to score a goal for Barbados, but I don’t think it gets any better than that.”
Minister of Sport Charles Griffith congratulated the team for continuing the excellent run of results achieved by national teams across various disciplines this year.
“On behalf of the government I really want to congratulate you and welcome you back home.This is important. So far this year all of our junior teams have been doing well and you’re continuing in that vein.
“You played some of the best competition there was in the world at your level, and you did what you were supposed to do. You conquered.”
Minister Griffith continued, “I hope that BFA will keep you together as a team because I expect that in a couple of years’ time, that I see all of you knocking on the door of the entire senior national selection. You’ve done exceedingly well.”
Minister Griffith also warned the young team against becoming complacent, following an early taste of global success.
“The government, parents, everybody you see here is proud of you, but I need for all of you as well, to become students of the game. By that I mean that you don’t ever believe that you have enough information or you know it all.
“You need to do what is necessary in order to strengthen the position that you’re playing, and then you’re going to have this same outcome every single time that you hit the pitch. It is not every Under-15 in Barbados who’s playing football that is wearing our national colors. You’re representing the country and as a team it is evident that you pulled together. I’ve got your back regardless of the situation, so welcome home.”
Head coach Stefan King is happy to be back on the island and thanked all of the team’s supporters for helping them to remain in good spirits while on tour.
While he expected the squad to give a good account of itself, King said he was pleasantly surprised by the team’s ability to shake off the tough results in the opening round and emerge as Tier F consolation champions.
“We were basically short on preparation, so we were kind of still figuring out what the team’s capability was. Obviously being on an island and already having the best players on your Under-15 team, sometimes it was challenging to have as many practice matches as we would like, so we really were basically figuring out certain things on the fly overseas.
“I think that once they understood what we demanded from them, the sky was the limit for this group, and they really showed their maturity and the results started to pay dividends as the tournament went on.”
The success of the team has not gone unnoticed around the region, with coach King revealing that his counterparts around the Caribbean were also impressed with the performance of the team.
“We had a lot of our Caribbean compatriots either ride with us towards the facility or waiting to have the next game, and we were receiving a lot of compliments because some of our Caribbean compatriots were not having as much success as we were in the latter stages.
“Having fellow professionals and fellow technical directors and coaches look at the Barbados team and from their professional view, take the time to comment on how well the boys were starting to play, was just another validation that team Barbados started to find another gear which aided in our success in the latter half of the tournament.”
(KH)
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