The team of national coach Stanley Menzo was unable to capitalize on the good starting position, fell through the ice in Guatemala City and seemed to miss everything for a long time. A fortunate own goal by Guatemala in injury time offered Suriname a possible way out of the biggest World Cup ever, despite the 3-1 defeat.
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Thanks to Nicolas Samayoa’s own goal, Suriname joined the two best runners-up in CONCACAF at the last minute, who will play intercontinental play-offs in Mexico in March next year for the last two World Cup starting tickets. That is not an easy route, but there was still great relief among Menzo and his players that the World Cup dream had not finally shattered on the disaster evening in Guatemala. “Luckily we still have an escape route, so we have to use it,” Menzo said after the match.
Low FIFA ranking
Suriname is the second-lowest ranked country among the six national teams participating in the play-offs. Only New Caledonia, Oceania’s representative, is lower in the FIFA rankings. The two highest ranked countries, DR Congo and Iraq, are directly qualified for the final round in their groups. The other four teams, in addition to Suriname and New Caledonia, also Bolivia and Jamaica, are divided into two groups and first play a semi-final among themselves.
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Menzo can use the coming months to evaluate how things could go so wrong in Guatemala. Suriname had the World Cup ticket up for grabs after the 4-0 win over El Salvador on the penultimate match day, but did not feature for a moment. The very combative Guatemala went like fire and ran out to 3-0 after the break, after which there were plenty of opportunities for the home team to further increase the score against the wavering Natio defense. Until fate favored Suriname and the own goal kept the prospect of the World Cup intact.
Outrated for fighting spirit and physicality
Menzo acknowledged that his team had been beaten, especially in terms of fighting spirit and physicality. “We are used to playing well-organized football in the Netherlands. This is not as physical as in this region. We couldn’t play our own game because they were very physical. They were everywhere. It seemed as if there were twelve players,” said the national coach, who can continue to dream of a historic first World Cup participation with Suriname.