Antigua and Barbuda Head Coach Mikele Leigertwood has praised his team for the quality of their play that saw them go unbeaten in the latest round of the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers and go top of Group A over El Salvador and Grenada.
The Benna Boyz have four points from their two matches having beaten US Virgin Islands 3-0 on March 27. They drew 2-2 against Montserrat on March 24. El Salvador, meanwhile, trail on goal difference following their 1-1 draw with Montserrat on March 28 after previously defeating Grenada 2-0 on March 25.
The 38-year-old England-born Antiguan, who represented the Caribbean nation 11 times between 2008 and 2012, said given the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, he was chuffed at the way the team responded on the field of play.
“A lot of praise must go to the players,” he said, “because of the pandemic a lot of players haven’t played for a long time so to play as well as they did, they deserve a lot of praise. I am delighted with the performances.”
Leigertwood said he was delighted with the way the team progressed from their 2-2 draw with Montserrat to trounce the USVI.
“The Montserrat game showed that we had more quality. If you look at the goals, we’re obviously disappointed with the goals we conceded because they came from our own mistakes but I think it showed when we started to get the ball down and play football and played to our strengths, I think that was the catalyst to us being quite dominant in the USVI game,” he said.
“We know we have got quality. We know we’ve got players that can go and win matches and ultimately if we can stamp out our mistakes will then have bred confidence and hopefully, we can take that into the upcoming games in June.
“We’re under no illusion that there is still a lot of work to be done so we’re happy that we have given ourselves the best opportunity to move forward,” he said.
He told Sportsmax.TV today that the players were focused from the outset and highlighted that much of the team’s success was also due to how well the overseas-based and local players manage to integrate and get the desired results.
Players like Josh Parker, Zaine Francis Angol and Zain Mohammed, who are based abroad had a positive influence on the team, he said, as well as the experience of players like Tamorley Ziggy Thomas and Peter Byers, who helped the younger players in the squad.
As he looks forward to those games in June, the cautiously optimistic coach hopes to convene a number of camps to prepare the players as soon as some of them recover from muscular injuries suffered during the last two matches.
He also plans to spend some time on video analysis of their play in the recent games as well as those of their next opponents Grenada and El Salvador.
Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.
Maanum stunner inspires Arsenal turnaround against Bayern, Barca ease past Roma into semi-finals
Arsenal defeated Bayern Munich 2-0 at Emirates Stadium to complete a 2-1 turnaround on aggregate and reach the semi-finals of the Women's Champions League.
Trailing to a Lea Schuller header from last week's first leg, Frida Maanum fired in a sensational 20-yard effort to level up the tie within 20 minutes of Wednesday's return game.
Stina Blackstenius powered in a header six minutes later to give Arsenal the lead in the tie for the first time in front of the 21,307 watching spectators in north London.
Jonas Eidevall's side missed chances to kill off the tie, but they saw out the victory to set up a meeting with the winners of Thursday's tie between Paris Saint-Germain and Wolfsburg.
Barcelona earlier booked their spot in the semi-finals, where either Chelsea or Lyon await, with a commanding 5-1 win over Roma at Camp Nou sealing a 6-1 aggregate victory.
Two-goal Fridolina Rolfo scored either side of Maria Leon's curler to put Barca, who finished runners-up to Lyon last season, out of sight before half-time.
Asisat Oshoala tapped in a fourth a minute after the restart and Patricia Guijarro headed in from a corner to complete the rout.
Competition debutants Roma registered a couple of attempts on target in the remaining 40 minutes, but it was plain sailing for Barca in their quest for a second European crown.
Arsenal and Aston Villa technical staff charged by FA after altercation
Members of Arsenal and Aston Villa's technical teams have been charged by the Football Association over an altercation during their Premier League game last month.
The Gunners staged a remarkable 4-2 comeback at Villa Park on February 18, sealed by a dramatic own goal courtesy of their former goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
It came after earlier goals from Bukayo Saka and Oleksandr Zinchenko had helped the visitors draw on level terms, while Gabriel Martinelli added a fourth deep in injury time.
Celebrations were marred between a clash between Villa’s head of performance analysis Victor Manas and Arsenal's technical analyst Miguel Molina, and now the pair have been charged by the FA.
"Aston Villa's head of performance analysis, Victor Manas, and Arsenal's technical analyst coach, Miguel Molina, have been charged following their Premier League game on Wednesday 18 February," read a statement.
"It's alleged that Miguel Molina's behaviour and/or language during the 94th minute was improper and/or abusive and/or insulting, and that his behaviour in the tunnel after the final whistle was also improper."
Manas and Molina have until Friday to provide a response to the FA.
Tottenham seek urgent clarification after FIFA extends Paratici ban worldwide 'with no advance notice'
Tottenham have reached out to FIFA for urgent "further clarification" after Fabio Paratici's ban was extended worldwide "with no advance notice" to the club.
Paratici was one of 11 individuals banned by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) in January after Juventus were found guilty of alleged breaches in relation to historical transfer dealings.
The Bianconeri were docked 15 points in Serie A as part of the punishment, with Paratici and Juve denying any wrongdoing and lodging an appeal for the initial sanctions to the Italian Olympic Committee.
Paratici was handed a 30-month ban by the FIGC but continued his role with Spurs due to his punishment only falling under the jurisdiction of Italian football's governing body.
But FIFA confirmed on Wednesday those FIGC sanctions have been extended worldwide, with Tottenham demanding immediate clarity over the bans on their managing director of football Paratici.
"Following media reports today regarding the FIFA Disciplinary Committee decision to extend worldwide the sanction imposed by the FIGC Federal Court of Appeals on Fabio Paratici on 20 January 2023, the club made urgent enquiries to FIFA," a club statement read.
"FIFA has late this afternoon responded to us in writing notifying us today, Wednesday 29 March 2023, that a decision has been made by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee to extend the FIGC sanction worldwide.
"This committee deliberation has been taken with no advance notice to any of the parties involved. We are urgently seeking further clarification from FIFA as to the details of the extension and its variance from the FIGC sanction."
The announcement came just a day after Paratici had addressed the club's media and stated head coach Antonio Conte's dismissal from Spurs was the "right decision for everyone".
Paratici placed his full faith in interim boss Cristian Stellini, who will be in charge until the end of the season, and Spurs sought to clarify the interview took place prior to any knowledge of FIFA's sanctions.
The statement added: "We should like to make clear that when Fabio conducted the interview on club channels yesterday neither he nor the club had any indication of this decision being made by FIFA, based on the fact the FIGC sanction was taken on 20 January 2023 and remains subject to an Appeal on 19 April 2023.
"We shall update on this matter in due course."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
