Montserrat No Longer Worst In The World!!

Confirmation came today in the latest FIFA rankings that Montserrat have finally climbed off the bottom of the world rankings, following their stunning 7-0 win over the British Virgin Islands last month.  That lone victory, a first in 18 years has earned Montserrat an incredible 66 ranking points and resulted in a climb up to 181^st place in the current rankings table, a climb of 25 places.  Utterly astonishing.

World Cup Qualifier: San Marino 0-6 Montenegro

11^thSeptember 2012
World Cup Qualifier
Stadio Olimpico di Serravalle, Serravalle, San Marino

San Marino 0-6 Montenegro

As expected San Marino started their World Cup campaign with a defeat at home to a decent Montenegro side, losing 6-0.

Looking beyond the scoreline, San Marino even had the chance to take the lead in this one, a rarity indeed.

San Marino’s World Cup Odyssey

European World Cup Qualifying gets under way this month and for us that means a swift return to action for San Marino after their encouraging yet ultimately disappointing friendly loss to Malta in August.  First up for the Sammarinese is a home tie against Montenegro on 11^th September in Serravalle which represents quite a tough opening to what is, naturally, a very tough group with several familiar faces in it.

Magnificent Montserrat! : British Virgin Islands 0-7 Montserrat

9th September 2012
Caribbean Cup First Qualifying Round
Stade Pierre Aliker, Fort-de-France, Martinique.  Att. 120

British Virgin Islands 0-7 Montserrat

Well I don’t know what to say!  Not only have Montserrat avoided defeat for the first time since joining FIFA in 1996, they’ve also got a first win and done it in fine style.  A 7-0 victory is simply astounding.

An even first 30 minutes belied two teams that, for all their positive talk, were short on confidence and lacked the belief to just go for it. And then, as the first half wore on, the chance to grasp the initiative was presented to Montserrat. Marlon Campbell, one of the new breed of UK-based players, playing his club football with Bethnal Green United, got his international goal scoring record off the mark with two strikes late in the first half to put Montserrat two goals to the good. Minutes later, they were in dreamland when their Australian-based midfielder, Darryl Roach, made it three.

This Is The One! (Maybe) Montserrat v. British Virgin Islands

So this is it.  A potentially huge match for Montserrat and a realistic opportunity to climb from the foot of the FIFA rankings and avoid defeat for the first time as a FIFA affiliated nation.

I hope I’m not being too overly optimistic, but given the previous results in this group is it really too much to ask that Montserrat have a real chance against the British Virgin Islands?  All past history for Montserrat screams at me to stop being so daft, but let’s look at the evidence.

A second defeat for Montserrat: Martinique 5-0 Montserrat

7th September 2012
Caribbean Cup First Qualifying Round
Stade En Camee, Riviere-Pilote, Martinique.  Att. 400

Martinique 5-0 Montserrat

Only a 5-0 defeat to Martinique is not a bad showing at all for our intrepid islanders from Montserrat, who made several changes to the team from the first match two days ago.  Bearing in mind that British Virgin Islands were beaten 16-0 by the same opponents this performance offers real hope for Montserrat’s final group match against BVI.  Can it really be hoped that defeat will be avoided, or whisper it quietly, even a win?

And next the hosts – Martinique v. Montserrat Preview

Up next for Montserrat in Caribbean Cup qualifying are the non-FIFA affiliated Martinique on Friday 7^th, hosts for this first round group stage.  Being an overseas territory of France, Martinique are not an official FIFA country so this match will not affect Montserrat’s world ranking, even were they to give their hosts a beating.  Quite how this differs from Montserrat being a dependent territory of the UK I don’t really know, but in FIFA-land it seems to matter.

A Tough Caribbean Cup Start: Montserrat 1 Suriname 7

5th September 2012
Caribbean Cup First Qualifying Round
Stade Georges-Gratiant, Le Lamentin, Martinique Att. 188

Montserrat 1-7 Suriname

A repeat of the 7-1 score line from four years earlier condemned Montserrat to an opening defeat in their Caribbean Cup group.  As in their previous encounter, Montserrat’s only goal came early in the second half.  Four years ago that kept things close for a while at 2-1, but this time around Montserrat already trailed 5-0 at the break before 20 year old defender Kendall Allen scored.

Caribbean Cup: Montserrat v. Suriname Preview

Mighty Montserrat return to action on Wednesday 5^thSeptember for the first time in 14 months with their opening Caribbean Cup qualifier against Suriname.  The match will take place in Le Lamentin on the French island of Martinique, hosts for this group of qualifiers.

The two teams have faced each other once before in a World Cup qualifying match in March 2008, well over two years ahead of the 2010 World Cup.  On that occasion in the neutral venue of Macoya, Trinidad, Suriname romped home to a 7-1 win.  What was meant to be a two-legged first round play-off became a one off match since neither side were able to provide a FIFA approved venue for their home leg.

A Big Month Ahead – September 2012

September sees competitive action for two of our teams as Montserrat take the field in the Caribbean Cup first qualifying round, while San Marino begin their 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign.

The Caribbean Cup finals are set to take place in Antigua & Barbuda in December with 8 teams taking part, and the top four going on to reach the following year’s CONCACAF Gold Cup.  Hosts Antigua & Barbuda, plus holders Jamaica, are automatic qualifiers leaving six spots remaining.   Two rounds of qualification will sort all that out.