After the friendly with JA, Gary “ Wizzard” Whittaker and team feel ready.  Photo by Wesley Dennis

The Cayman Islands Senior National team left the island Tuesday, 7 October en route to Guadeloupe to take on top guns in Group F of the second stage of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Digicel Caribbean Cup (DCC) competition.

The tournament, scheduled for 11-13 October, includes hosts Guadeloupe, Grenada and Martinique, seasoned teams that have carved out their niche as outstanding contenders at all levels and have been dubbed the “Group of Death”.

President of the Cayman Islands Football Association Jeffrey Webb said in a brief interview that this was the toughest group, however he is optimistic that they will advance to the next level.

“This is the toughest group and has been called the ‘Group of Death’, however with the tremendous work that Technical Director [Carl Brown] and his coaching staff have put out and the significant improvements that the team has made over the past year I expect the National team to advance to the next level,” said Webb.

“Guadeloupe reached the semi finals of the Gold Cup last season, Martinique are former DCC champions and Grenada is no walk over, so therefore I am sure we will have to do our best to be in the top two. The team has been playing well and if they remain consistent all will be well,” Webb pointed out.

The Cayman Islands National Senior Men’s team face the hosts on Saturday,11 October at 8:00pm. On Monday they tackle Martinique at 6:00pm, and Wednesday is the day of reckoning when they play the Grenadines at 8:00pm in their final bid advance to the finals in Kingston, Jamaica this December.

The players selected for Cayman’s team are goalkeepers Jermaine “Wackier Dip” Brown and Mario Dinnal; defenders Tom Elliot, Rene Carter, Horace Nelson, Leighton Elliot, Philip Berry and John Kelly; midfielders Jairo Sanchez, Dion Brandon, Oneil Taylor, Carson Fagan, Garth Anderson, Chris Douglas, Ian Lindo and Benjamin Cupid;and forwards Calvin Jefford, Gary “Wizzard” Whittaker, Eric Brown and Nicolai Hill.

These men have the task of taking the Cayman Islands team to the next level in Kingston. In addition, if they place in the top four they will automatically qualify for the CONCACAF Gold Cup next year.

The team was staying overnight in Miami to play a warm-up game against a club team there before continuing to Guadeloupe for the big games.

The Cayman Islands hosted Group C of the competition where the national team placed second, to qualify for the second stage. They played to a record result in beating St Martins 3-0 and drawing 1-1 and 0-0 with winners of the group Antigua and Barbuda, and Bermuda, respectively.