Vincy Heat gets longer stay on ice

St Vincent and the Grenadines’ senior men’s football team Vincy Heat, will have to wait a while longer before it can get cracking in the CONCACAF Gold Cup qualifier.’

The Vincentians were set to meet Guadeloupe on March 26 in Guadeloupe and here in St Vincent and the Grenadines on March 31.

However, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, saw the matches being postponed.

CONCACAF, last month, had indicated that matches under its jurisdiction were deferred for a three-month period.

However, last Monday, CONCACAF’s general secretary Philipe Moggio, in a letter to presidents and general secretaries, pointed to a further suspension of the confederation’s competitions.

Moggio informed, “As you are aware, following concerns about the spread of COVID- 19 across our region and the world, we made the decision last month to suspend all our competitions scheduled for March, April and May 2020”.

“Given the ongoing public health situation and following consultation with FIFA regarding the international football calendar, we have now made the decision to suspend the Concacaf Nations League Finals, which was scheduled June 4th – 7th 2020 in Houston and Dallas, Texas, USA,” Moggio added.

This means Vincy Heat are still uncertain when they will engage the Guadelopeans.

Vincy Heat have had to go the qualifying route, after finishing second to Suriname in Group D of the Nations League.

After playing unbeaten, the Vincentians needed to beat Dominica in Dominica on November 18 to punch their direct ticket to the Gold Cup, but were defeated by the host one-nil.

Vincy Heat thus ended the group on 11 points, achieved from three wins, two draws and one loss.

Suriname which got the straight flight to the Gold Cup, ended with four wins, one draw and one loss, to finish on 13 points.

Whilst St Vincent and the Grenadines await their reset dates, along with Guadeloupe, Barbados, Guyana, Guatemala, Montserrat, French Guiana and Bahamas.

Should Vincy Heat overcome Guadeloupe, they will meet Haiti, while the winners of the Barbados versus Guyana tie, face Trinidad and Tobago, with the outcome of the Guatemala against Montserrat match-up taking on Bermuda.

And, French Guiana or Bahamas will meet Cuba in the next phase.

The four winners will join the other eight teams in the Gold Cup showdown set for 2021.

Already qualified for the Gold Cup are Jamaica, Mexico, Canada, USA, Suriname, Grenada, Curacao, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Martinique and Panama.