Barbados enjoyed the fourth biggest move in the North, Central America, and the Caribbean (Concacaf) region, in terms of points added during the September window, when FIFA released the latest Coca Cola Men’s World Ranking on Wednesday. The world governing body had issued its previous ranking of national teams in July.
184 international matches were played in September, involving teams from all six confederations. Playing League C of the Concacaf Nations League (CNL) in the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), Kent Hall’s men beat the home team 3-0 after defeating the Bahamas 3-2.
As a result, the Bajan Tridents men added 11.47 points, behind only Belize, the Dominican Republic, and top movers Saint Lucia. After a run of poor form, they moved up two spots to 175th, their best placing in a year, but well off their best ranking of 92nd back in October 2009.
Goals inside the final minutes of their game against the Bahamas and a clean sheet against the USVI meant that the national senior men’s programme arrested their recent slide, and avoided plunging to their worst ranking ever, having been as low as 181st in July 2017.
Prior to the September window, Barbados had endured a tough run of fixtures, going winless in eight matches, including two heavy defeats to Dominican Republic.
Hall included five new players in the men’s team for the first matchday in their Group A campaign, most notably Nathan Sealy of Salem University and Nathan Walters of Altitude FC. In the absence of some of the island’s top Europe-based players, he also called up a handful of players from the Under-20 ranks.
Goals from Zachary Applewhite, Ethan Taylor, and Andre Applewhaite shepherded a come-from-from-behind triumph over the Bahamas. Barbados were down 2-1 from the 66th minute, before Taylor and Applewhaite engineered the recovery.
On paper, progress against the USVI was more straightforward. With rain pelting down at the Bethlehem Soccer Complex, a goal inside the first 15 minutes from Carl Hinkson and two late markers from Niall Reid-Stephen handed the Tridents the ascendancy in their group.
Further wins against the same two opponents at home in October would see Barbados taking another jump in the standings. The USVI drew with the Bahamas and moved up one spot to 207th, switching with the British Virgin Islands, who dropped to 208th out of 210 ranked national teams.
The Tridents will be aiming to bounce back up to League B in the CNL, when they play USVI and the Bahamas again at the Wildey Turf next month. The Bahamas moved down two spots to 205th in the latest ranking.
Anguilla remains at the bottom of the Concacaf table, despite getting a slight bump. The British overseas territory beat the Turks & Caicos Islands 2-0, their first win since 2010.
San Marino (210th) remain rooted to the bottom of the pile, despite their first victory in more than 20 years. La Serenissima’s previous triumph had been a 1-0 success against Liechtenstein in April 2004 and, after a 140-game winless run, they repeated the feat this past 5 September against the same opposition and by the same scoreline.
Argentina remain at the top of the rankings, despite losing 2-1 away to Colombia.
(TF)
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