The Gold Cup, which is held every two years, offers small Caribbean nations the chance to play on the big football stage. This time there is a real tiny one. A country the size of Bielefeld.
When small meets large, there is often talk of a duel between David and Goliath. For the second preliminary round game of group A des gold cup on Wednesday in st louis However, this comparison is still an understatement. There defending champion USA welcomes tournament newcomer Saint Kitts and Nevis. In terms of sport and geography, an encounter that could hardly be more different.
The USA are 13th in the FIFA world rankings. The “Sugar Boyz”, as the national team from Saint Kitts and Nevis is called, are in 139th place. And thus behind, for example, the Comoros (131), the Solomon Islands (134) or Turkmenistan (137).
World power against tiny
The discrepancy becomes even more serious when looking at population and area. In both categories (335 million people and 9.83 million square kilometers), the USA ranks third in the world. With a population of around 47,000 inhabitants, Saint Kitts and Nevis is the ninth smallest nation and with a size of 261 square kilometers – comparable to Bielefeld – even the eighth smallest. So world power meets tiny.
“But on the soccer field it’s 11 against 11 – and we will give everything”says goalkeeper Julani Archibald. He is currently writing a sweet success story with the Sugar Boyz. The team not only reached the finals of the continental championships of North and Central America and the Caribbean for the first time, but also – you can actually guess – qualified as the smallest nation for the tournament, which has been held since 1963.
Grandparents celebrated until the early hours
After two weeks of training camp in Fort Lauderdale, coach Austin Huggins’ team won against Curaçao and French Guiana on penalties. When association president Atiba Harris gave an interview to the Caribbean sports broadcaster “SportsMax” one day after the decisive victory, he didn’t even have to emphasize that the success was extensively celebrated, but began the conversation with the words as a precaution: “We’re all still a bit tired, as you can see from my face.”
The 38-year-old proudly mentioned that he “numerous videos from home with cheering people” have seen. “Even our grandparents stayed up into the early hours partying”according to Harris.
Fastest Man Alive by Saint Kitts and Nevis
They left out that much Kittitians and Nevisians previously only celebrated when sprinter Kim Collins raced with the world elite. Especially on August 25, 2003. On that Monday he sprinted sensationally to the title over 100 meters at the World Athletics Championships in Paris’ Stade de France. The government subsequently declared August 25 “Kim Collins Day” in the country. In addition to the 2003 World Championship gold, Collins also won four bronze medals in global title fights.
Now the “Sugar Boyz” are making sporting headlines beyond national borders. Even in the small and manageable Football Association of the Caribbean (CFU), in which nations like Jamaica or Trinidad & Tobago are considered the ultimate, they were just a follower for decades.
first friendly game 1938
The first friendly in the country’s history was lost 4-2 to Grenada on August 18, 1938. Saints Kitts and Nevis played their first qualifying games in 1979 during the CFU Championship. In 1997 the “Sugar Boyz” were even in the final – but lost to Trinidad & Tobago 0:4.
You don’t just want the Gold Cup “participate”but also “competitive” association president Harris emphasized before the start of the tournament. They didn’t get there at the start – they lost 3-0 to Trinidad & Tobago on Sunday. If the team also loses against the USA, that could already be tantamount to being eliminated from the preliminary round.
Goalkeeper from the fifth Spanish league
The majority of the team consists of semi-professionals. Nine of them play in the domestic SKNFA Premier League. Defender Gerald Williams is under contract with TRAU FC in the second Indian division, goalkeeper Archibald even in Spain’s fifth division.
The best-known actor is Romaine Swayers. The midfielder made a number of appearances for West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League in the 2020/21 season and currently plays for Cardiff FC in the second-tier Championship. Like seven other national team colleagues, Sawyers was born in England. His grandparents are from Saints Kitts and Nevis.
Dream England, Alternative Sugar Boyz
He had always hoped to get an invitation to the England national team. And a few times he was even on call. But his big dream never came true. That’s why Sawyers chose the “Sugar Boyz” in 2012. “At first I was thought to be an Englishman who only represented Saint Kitts and Nevis”Sawyers recalls. “But then I scored a hat-trick for the Under-23s against Trinidad & Tobago. And then it was like, ‘He’s one of us.'”
Marcus Rashford might have been a Saint Kitts and Nevis international if he hadn’t been so talented. The Manchester United striker also has grandparents in the Caribbean nation. But unlike Sawyers, Rashford caught the scouts of the English national team as a teenager and was used as an 18-year-old at the 2016 European Championships for the “Three Lions”.