Grenada players celebrate their win.
Concacaf
St Lucia, St Maarten, Grenada, and Haiti all opened their 2024/25 Concacaf Nations League accounts with victories in League B on Friday.
Grenada blanked St Martin 2-0, and St Lucia edged Curacao 2-1 in the Group B double-header at Kirani James Athletics Stadium.
Over in Group C, Haiti were 4-1 winners over Puerto Rico, and St Maarten blanked Aruba 2-0 at Estadio Centroamericano in Puerto Rico.
St Lucia vs. Curaçao
In what was the first-ever Nations League encounter between the two nations, St Lucia were the better team on the day.
Arkell Jude-Boyd broke the deadlock for St Lucia in the 24th when he fended off a defender on his way to poking an effort through the legs of Eloy Room in goal for Curacao to make it 1-0 at the break.
Jude-Boyd went close to extending the lead in the second half, but Room came up big for Curacao on that occasion.
However, St Lucia inevitably doubled the lead in the 55th through Caniggia Elva, who finished off a loose ball.
Curacao pulled one back in the 63rd when Joshua Brenet fired home from Leandro Bacuna’s pass.
St Maarten vs. Aruba
St Maarten and Aruba failed to separate themselves for most of the contest, as their respective goalkeepers Tyrell Richardson and Matthew Lentink were in good knick between the sticks.
It wasn’t until the 81st that Gerwin Lake broke the deadlock for St Maarten when he rifled an effort past Lentink, who had no chance at a save on that occasion.
Ronan Olivacce added a second for St Maarten in the 90+3, with an easy tap-in from Chovanie Amatkarijo’s pass.
St Martin vs. Grenada
Grenada were always favoured to secure the three points and that they did.
It took them only five minutes to open the scoring as Lucas Akins capitalised on a defensive error.
The menacing Regan Charles-Cook made the points safe when he tucked home from close range in the 38th minute.
St Martin tried to stay in the contest but found Grenada’s defence and goalkeeper Chad Phillip in defiant mode.
Puerto Rico vs. Haiti
After being relegated from League A, Haiti is intent of getting back to the top and they demonstrated that with a comfortable beating of Puerto Rico.
Interestingly, it was Puerto Rico that struck first in the 29th when Gerald Diaz fired home from a rebound.
Haiti responded with a second half flurry, which was started by Danley Jean Jacques in the 51st.
Frantzdy Pierrot added a second in the 60th, taking his Nations League tally to eight goals, before Don Louicius finished off a tidy team build up in the 76th to put Haiti 3-1 up.
Duckens Nazon then capped the win with an 83rd-minute strike to put Haiti on course for promotion.
Mona High begins defense of Manning Cup title with 7-0 win over Waterford
Mona High School started the defense of their first ever ISSA Manning Cup title with a dominant 7-0 thrashing of opponents Waterford High at Catherine Hall Stadium in Montego Bay, St. James on Saturday.
Man of the match Carlton Brown scored a pair of goals in the 17th and 37th minutes, the first being a brilliant right-footed strike from long range that evaded Waterford goalkeeper Jaheim Daley.
In between those two strikes, Savi-K Morton made it 2-0 in the 31st minute through a well-placed left-footed shot from just inside the 18-yard box.
Captain Robino Gordon made it 4-0 ten minutes later with a close-range finish, a score that would hold until the end of the first half.
Just a minute into the second 45 minutes, Alex Suazo made it 5-0 with the second long-range strike of the day.
The scoring was completed by Kshaine Gordon (67’) and Denzel McKenzie (70’).
“It’s really important to get off to a good start and we have more to come,” Brown said in a post-match interview.
Mona assistant coach Kyle Butler believes his team could have done even better but was happy with the win nonetheless.
“Definitely a statement win. The foundation is there but we’re still in second gear. We still have a lot that we can improve on. We could have won 10-0 easily but as I said the foundation is there and we want to build on that,” he said.
Waterford High coach Kevin Reid expressed disappointment at his team’s performance.
“It’s a disappointing start for us. Experience got the better of us today. Nevertheless, I believe they learned something to day and I believe the best team won. We just have to get back in training and put in some more work and, hopefully, we will have a better second game,” he said.
Mona will next take on Jonathan Grant on September 12 while Waterford will tackle Charlie Smith on the same day.
United States 1-2 Canada: David helps continue Marsch's impressive run
Canada continued their impressive run under Jesse Marsch after their Copa America exploits, beating the United States 2-1 in a friendly at Children's Mercy Park.
Goals in either half from Jacob Shaffelburg and Jonathan David handed Canada the advantage, with Luca de la Torre's goal proving a mere consolation in another dominant display from the visitors.
A frenetic start to proceedings was rewarded in the 17th minute as Johnny Cardoso's loose touch allowed David to tee up Shaffelburg to finish beyond Patrick Schulte.
Canada restricted their opponents to just one shot in the first-half but were unable to build their lead despite registering 11 shots, five of which were on target.
But they got the goal their performance merited after the break, again pouncing on a mistake by Michael Varas's side, with David finishing into the roof of the net.
De la Torre responded with a composed finish after neat play from substitute Aidan Morris, but Canada were able to see out the result with relative ease on enemy turf.
Data Debrief: David dazzles in Kansas
Having already scored three goals in seven appearances for Lille this season, David transferred that goal-scoring touch to the international stage.
The 24-year-old impressed against the USA, recording more shots (four) and shots on target (three), while also registering an expected goals (xG) tally of 1.12 to Canada's 1.95 total.
Canada's triumph was their first win against the USMNT on American soil since 1957, ending the US' 23-game unbeaten home run against them, the longest against any opponent in team history.
Rodri 'will have to start playing', says Spain boss De la Fuente
Luis de la Fuente asserted that Rodri "will have to start playing" ahead of Spain's Nations League clash with Switzerland.
Rodri is yet to feature for Manchester City in the Premier League this season after being substituted at half-time during the Euro 2024 final due to a hamstring injury.
The Spanish defensive midfielder made 34 appearances for City in the Premier League last season, scoring eight goals, and is a crucial cog in their midfield.
Despite Pep Guardiola erring on the side of caution to not use Rodri, De la Fuente believes he is ready to play again.
"We always prioritise the player's health. [But] Rodri is perfectly trained and at some point he will have to start playing, either here or with his club," he told the media.
"If we understand that tomorrow he has to start, then he will start without any risk. But then, football is the way it is and anything can happen."
Despite Rodri playing for both a domestic and international side that have recently reached a number of finals, De la Fuente is keen not to treat any players differently.
"Our duty is to represent our country, to put out the best players, to compete to win. We have a huge responsibility, a great prestige to defend and the only way I would know how to do it is to put the players I think are the best,” he added.
"Besides, we have to be fair, and I would not be fair if I protected some more than others because of their club."
Across all competitions, Rodri made 50 appearances for Man City last season, racking up a total of 4,325 minutes, more than any of his team-mates.
He went on to feature in six of Spain's seven Euro 2024 matches, with the fifth most minutes played in the Spanish squad at the tournament (521).
It is an evidently packed schedule, but De la Fuente was keen to point out national teams are thwarted by the congestion just as much as domestic clubs are.
"We think of the players first. But they also have to play with the national team," De la Fuente said.
"The calendar is agreed, we comply with it, nothing else. (But) it's our country, our national team, and I think we should give it the importance it has.
"All the players want to go to the national team and the clubs - without exception - want their players to be internationals. We are victims of this calendar, not the culprits."
The European Champions will hope to defend their Nations League title but De la Fuente did not want to underestimate a Swiss team he felt were only bettered by Spain at the Euros when it came to their level of performance.
"We'll have a very tough opponent in front of us. I think that during the European Championship we were the teams that played best," he suggested.
"Tomorrow we will see two teams of a very high level, perhaps in one of the most important games that could be currently played in Europe. We are planning to try to enhance our strengths and minimise those of our opponents."
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