Sports
Football's Gold Cup Comes to Cayman
Regional football action takes place in Grand Cayman from 27th November to 1st December, when the Cayman Islands will host Cuba, Martinique and the Dominican Republic in Group B of the Gold Cup Competition.
On Wednesday, 27th November Cayman will play Cuba, the eighth encounter between the two countries since 1994.
The Cayman Islands will certainly be looking to get past this regional football stalwart, whom it has lost to five times and tied with twice. Martinique will play the Dominican Republic on that date.
On Friday, 29th November, the Cayman Islands will meet the Dominican Republic and Cuba and Martinique will square off. On Sunday, 1st December, Cayman will take on Martinique and Cuba will face the Dominican Republic. All matches will be played at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex.
Cayman Islands Football Association President, Mr. Jeffrey Webb notes that "all systems are ready" for next week's competition and that the organizing committee is happy with the plans for the tournament.
He noted that Cayman's hosting of Group B matches has received the support of the Ministry of Sports, and sponsors, Foster Brothers, Martinizing and Pepsi, through its distributors, Bodden Beverages.
The Gold Cup, hosted by the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) is a biannual tournament in which 35 countries compete. The competition runs from November 2002 to May 2003, and during this period four groups of four teams each will compete for two spots in the Gold Cup Tournament in the United States in 2003.
The Gold Cup Tournament is being held in four countries Trinidad and Tobago, (Group A matches) Grenada (Group C), Haiti (Group D) and the Cayman Islands (Group B). Cayman Islands referee Godfrey Bowen is currently in Haiti to referee the Group D games, which run from 18th-22nd November.
In Group A, Trinidad and St. Lucia have already qualified for the next round with St. Kitts/Nevis losing out. In Group C, Jamaica and Barbados advance to the next round, leaving behind Grenada and Guadeloupe.
The Cayman Islands team comprises: Milton
Sinclair, Tuda Murphy, Romeo Thomas, Tom Elliott, Frederick Wilks,
Marino McField, Jermain Seymour, Leon Whittaker, Garth Anderson,
Lee Ramoon (Captain), Anthony Ramoon, Marshall Forbes, Eric Rown,
Rico Bodden, Phillip Berry, Jared Yates, Michael Wilks, Carson
Fagan, Jamie Johnson, Ian Lindo, and Mario Watler.