The St. Kitts and Nevis National Team, known as the Sugar Boyz, host the Reggae Boyz of Jamaica at the Warner Park on Thursday at 8pm. Stanley Jacobs, General Secretary of the St. Kitts and Nevis Football Association (SKNFA), said the senior men’s team is ready and raring to go and are looking forward to hosting the Reggae Boyz. “This is the Jamaica Reggae Boyz. They made it to the FIFA World Cup Final rounds and so it’s a huge deal for us. Jamaica is not just a top footballing nation in the Caribbean region but the CONCACAF region,” Jacobs said of the visitors. “Reaching the last two finals of the last two CONCACAF Gold Cup is a significant achievement for a team from the Caribbean.”
News broke recently that national team coach of Jamaica and former FIFA World Cup Player Theodore Whitmore had resigned, reportedly due to difficulties with the President of the Jamaican Football Federation (JFF). He has recently returned to the team, but according to media reports did not travel with the squad for this match. Despite those distractions, Mr. Jacobs does not believe this will impact the visitors in anyway and expects high competition from Jamaica. “I love Coach Whitmore but I believe that the Reggae Boyz will be the Reggae Boyz no matter what. They are a really talented team, they have a very good national program. Jamaica has a lot of international players playing all over the globe so they are very successful in terms of their football development and we expect that it’s going to be a very good contest,” Mr. Jacobs said.
Meanwhile, the SKNFA General Secretary said this match is a precursor before the start of the CONCACAF Nations League in September.
“National teams will be dormant for a while until the FIFA window comes around. For us this match is outside the window but nonetheless it’s very important for us…it gives us an opportunity to showcase a lot of the local talents. I expect that Jamaica will showcase a lot of their local talents and Jacques Passy will showcase a lot of our local talent,” Mr. Jacobs added. The SKNFA is encouraging fans to come out and support the team.
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