Tuesday October 19th 2010 – Kingston, Jamaica: The Digicel Caribbean Cup completed stage one of the tournament on Sunday night last with 21 matches played, 84 goals scored, four countries visited and six teams – from a total of fifteen – through to the next stage.
Stage one also saw two major records being set – both of which occurred in matches against the hapless BVI. Dominica – who topped the Group to go through to the next stage – scored the fastest goal ever conceded in the tournament at only 26 seconds into the match and the Dominican Republic set the record for the most amount of goals ever scored in the history of international football in CONCACAF with 17 goals.
The crowds came out in droves, and while the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico hosted the Digicel Caribbean Cup for the first time in their history, St. Vincent & the Grenadines and Suriname also enjoyed very large crowds supported by Digicel pre and at-match promotions and sponsorship initiatives.
The next stage of the Digicel Caribbean Cup offers some real mouth watering clashes – particularly in Group F which has the most notable set of fixtures with four heavyweight sides set to compete against each other in The Hasely Crawford Stadium in Trinidad from November 2nd – 6th.
Group E will be first to kick off in Grenada on October 22nd in the National Stadium with the hosts taking on St. Kitts & Nevis, Guadeloupe, and Group A winners, Puerto Rico.
Group F – already hailed as the “Group of Death” – will see beaten finalists in 2006, Trinidad & Tobago; have a chance of revenge against 2006 champions, Haiti. Runners-up from Group B, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, and Guyana also make up the Group. Incidentally, Guyana are enjoying a 100% record – similar to their attempt in the 2006 tournament.
Group G will be hosted in Antigua & Barbuda and International Football Director, Brian Hamilton, hopes his charges will be able to command positive results in Group clashes against Group D winners, Dominica and Group C runners-up, Suriname and Cuba. Dominica are the only side yet to concede a goal in this year’s tournament with match time behind them. Group G is the last in stage two and will kick off on November 10th at the Antigua Recreation Grounds.
The top two teams in each Group will proceed to the finals and join current cup-holders, Jamaica, and hosts, Martinique, on November 26th where this year’s Digicel Caribbean Cup champions will be named.
Qualifiers to join stage two are:
Group A Winner Puerto Rico
Group B Winner St. Kitts & Nevis
Group B Runner-up St. Vincent & the Grenadines
Group C Winner Guyana
Group C Runner-up Suriname
Group D Winner Dominica
For more information, access to match images and live score updates, visit www.digicelfootball.com.
