Cayman’s U-14 Boys National Team concluded their Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Challenge Series tournament run in Dominican Republic, finishing second in their group (Tier 2, Group B). The squad played a total of three games in just four days, managing to secure two wins and one loss.
In their first game against Antigua and Barbuda on 16 Aug, Cayman were unable to come away with the win despite a strong showing. Even though their opener ended in a 3-1 defeat, head coach Claudio Garcia said, “Even though we lost, we were by far the best team.” The squad used their opener as a learning opportunity to prepare them for the games to come.
Success came for the boys in the second game against Turks and Caicos on 17 Aug. The 4-1 victory demonstrated the boys’ ability to bounce back from a tough loss and refrain from carrying negative momentum. Coach Garcia explained said, “What we did against [Turks and Caicos] is what we should have done against Antigua.” He recognised a lack of possession in the first match, so was pleased that his team executed in the second match and “dominated the game from the start to the end”.
Their final game, played on 19 Aug. against Dominica, resulted in another comfortable 5-1 victory for the Cayman squad. Looking at the grand scheme of his team’s development, coach Garcia said he wanted to use this game to make sure that all the players get the playing time they deserve. Garcia recognised Dominica as a “very physical team” and therefore developed a strategy for this game involving maintaining more possession and controlling the tempo of the game.
To come away from this tournament with two wins and one loss against tough opposition is considered a success for the Cayman squad. Outscoring their opponents 10-5 across the three matches shows the quality of Cayman’s young players, especially in the attacking half of the pitch. Garcia said, “Cayman Islands is presenting a tremendous idea of football and tremendous quality.”
While only the first place finishers are advancing past the group stage, the U-14 Boys will build upon this impressive tournament showing and push towards further success in the future.
