Turks & Caicos Islands Evens Score with British Virgin Islands In Concacaf Nations League Qualifier

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Preparation between Concacaf Nation’s League (CNL) Qualifiers became exceedingly engaging and vigorous, bringing an increase of players to the Turks & Caicos Islands (TCI) Men’s National Football Team selection pool. With newly appointed National Team Head Coach, Omar Edwards, and Specialized Goalkeeper Coach and FIFA World Cup veteran, Aaron Lawrence, players were put through the mill with a series of intense training camps leading up to the final qualifying match. In addition, the team competed in three practice matches, one against TCIFA Academy Jaguars and another against Beaches Football Club, both who are participants in the Provo Premier League. The final practice match was played in Nassau versus the Bahamas Men’s National Football Team.

The Raymond Gordon Ernest Guishard Technical Center in Anguilla witnessed the fourth and final match of the CNL qualifying phase for both TCI and British Virgin Islands (BVI). TCI brought strategic modifications to its camp, with the most obvious being first-time national goalkeeper, Sebastian Turbyfield, joining Pendieno Brooks in the penalty area, and Marcdonald Fenelus returning to defense.

After a skilled and hard-fought competition, team TCI came from behind a score of 2-0 in favor of BVI. Captain Billy Forbes scored a goal in the 85th minute performing one of his highly anticipated headers beating the goalkeeper, and Fred Dorvil with a magnificent goal in the 86th minute equalized the game. Both goals were scored within 90 seconds of each other, ending in a draw with a score of 2-2.

All 68 matches of the Concacaf Nations League will culminate on Sunday, March 24, and teams will be ranked 1-34 based on points earned, goal difference, and a series of additional tiebreaker criteria. The standings will then determine how teams will be divided into the three leagues, A, B, and C, of the inaugural Concacaf Nations League (CNL).

The official draw of the group phase of the CNL will take place on Wednesday March 27th 10:00 pm from the Chelsea Theater in Las Vegas Nevada, and will be executed by Concacaf’s Chief Football Officer Manolo Zubiria using a single-blind system with three pots for the three leagues. The 41 participating teams will be allocated in the pots according to the league they have qualified for as well as by their Concacaf rankings as of November 2018. Turks & Caicos Islands currently ranks at number 36 with 453 points documented.

The group stage for the competition will be played in September, October and November 2019, with the final championship hosted on March 2020. The league celebrates, elevates, and broadens the opportunities for men, especially those from small members associations like TCIFA, to play quality football at an international level.

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MensCandia EwingCNL, concacaf nations league, concacaf, men's national team, turks and caicos islands, turks and caicos islands football association, soccer, Mens football, anguilla, british virgin islandsComment