Wanted: Fire power
Published on: 1/24/08.
TECHNICAL ADVISER Keith Griffith is in dire need of fire-power for the Barbados football team.
And he is pleading with the Barbados Football Association (BFA) to bring home strikers Reveire Williams and Dwayne McClean from Argentina to play in the first round World Cup qualifying match against Dominica, early next month.
"I am very concerned that two of our best players are not back from Argentina as yet," Griffith told NATION SPORT after returning from Dominica on a spying mission.
"Barry Skeete has returned and is training while all over the world, the overseas professionals have left England and gone back home to represent their country and play in the African Nations Cup," Griffith said.
When contacted yesterday, BFA's senior assistant secretary Charles Husbands confirmed that an official request was made by the team's management for the pair, who are on a club attachment in Argentina, and five other England-based players.
These are midfielder Louie Soares of Aldershot F.C., Jonathan Forde of Scunthrope United and strikers Neil Harvey of Retford United, Mark McCammon from Doncaster Rovers and Wayne Andrews of Coventry.
Former Sheffield United winger Paul Ifill, who represented Barbados in the last World Cup and in the 2006 Digicel Caribbean Cup, is injured.
The first leg will be played at the Windsor Park in Roseau, on February 6 and Griffith got a jump start last weekend when he travelled to Dominica to observe their national team in a friendly international which they lost 3-0 to Guadeloupe.
Dominica have never beaten Barbados in an international match, losing four times and earning a draw but Griffith said the match won't be
a walk-over.
"I anticipate, based on what I saw, that they are going to be competitive and playing at their new stadium, in front of 10 000 home fans, it could be a bit tricky," Griffith said.
"The stadium has a soft outfield like our Kensington Oval with that same type of grass so we must go there with the right equipment in terms of boots," Griffith noted.
In their last game in 2006, Barbados blanked Dominica 5-0 on their way to Antigua and Barbuda for the Digicel Caribbean Cup.
"I expect that a tougher game. We have to be extremely careful and cautious but based on our past performance, we should still start as favourites," Griffith added.
"Dominica has improved significantly since then and I understand they will have some overseas players joining the team. But once we play to our full potential, we should be able to come away with the right result," he said.
The injury list in the Barbados camp continues to grow with reserve goalkeeper Bernard Howell dislocating his shoulder in practice last Sunday, while midfielder Romelle Burgess and defenders Dwight James and Rohan Hall have been sidelined with niggling injuries.
Howell will be out for six weeks, ruling him out of the first leg game against Dominica. Youth Milan's recuperating Adrian Chase and BDF's Kerry Holder are now vying for the No.2 spot behind first-choice custodian Alvin Rouse.
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Wanted: Fire power
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