The 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games Qualifier began on Tuesday, April 13 and ended on April 17 in Hamilton, Bermuda.
Jamaica and Puerto Rico, the two best teams after playing round robin, qualify for the 2023 CAC Games in El Salvador.
5 days of pure emotions and exciting matches. The evolution of the Central American and Caribbean teams resulted in close & competitive games!
The Qualifier began on April 13 with a scoreless match between Local Bermuda and Puerto Rico. Both teams returned to play internationally after a long time and nerves and anxiety played a fundamental role in this match. The match ended 0-0.
On the second day of the tournament, Jamaica was going to have a double participation: first they faced Puerto Rico in a very close game and without many clear goal situations, but both teams were able to capitalize some and the match ended 1-1.
In the afternoon the story was completely different, with a full stadium and a really wonderful atmosphere, we experienced a great match between Jamaica and Bermuda. Beyond the result (4-1 Jamaica), the fans & players of the Bermuda team were happy to play at home, Captain Samuel Thompson highlighted “it is an honour to play home”.
On April 15, Jamaica and Bermuda played again. Jamaica knew that if they won this match they would secure their qualification for the CAC Games. It was one of the closest matches of the tournament. Bermuda knew how to interpret the mistakes made in the previous match and managed to neutralize Jamaica's game. Bermuda did a great job and despite the recurrent attacking of the Jamaicans they managed to defend their goal for almost the entire match. Just 1 minute from the end of the game and after a Penalty Corner rebound, Jamaica scored and qualified for the CAC Games.
Jamaica was going to participate in the last match of the tournament on April 16 when they faced Puerto Rico in a very physical match with lots of attacking but with few goals. Puerto Rico knew that a victory would qualify them directly to the CAC Games but they could not capitalize their attacks and the match ended 1-1.
The last match of the qualifier faced Bermuda v Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico needed a win or a draw to qualify, and Bermuda knew they needed a win to make history. It was a super dynamic and entertaining meeting to watch, a real show. Even though Puerto Rico found a way to open the scoring and go 2-0 quickly, Bermuda never lost hope and fought until the end. Finally, the Puerto Rican team won the 3 points of the match and qualified for the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games.
Final Positions
1- Jamaica
2- Puerto Rico
3- Bermuda
Individual Awards
Player of the Tournament : Richard HARRIS (JAM)
Top Scorers : Brandon CLARKE (JAM), 2 goals
Goalkeeper of the Tournament: Justin DILL (BER)
