BFA Announces Barbados National Senior Men's Squad for Concacaf Nations League 2024-25

The Barbados Football Association (BFA) has announced the national senior men’s squad and their management team who will travel on Thursday to Saint Croix in the US Virgin Islands to compete in the Concacaf Nations League (CNL) 2024-25.

Head Coach Kent Hall said he was encouraged by the foundations that were being laid with the National Tridents, and that he remained optimistic about their performance at the upcoming Nations League.

“Our preparations for the Concacaf Nations League are a continuation of the work that we began during the World Cup Qualifiers a few months ago,” he said. “We are slowly laying the developmental building blocks for our team to grow as a unit, and consciously making tweaks and modifications as we go to strengthen the formation of our new team core.

“It’s a long journey to reach the performance outcomes that we aspire to, and we are still in the process of establishing and refining the way we play. I’m excited to have a few new fresh faces in the squad who have never been selected for the Senior team before, and we are all just really looking forward to getting out there and giving it one hundred percent.”

Barbados endured a torrid 2023-24 CNL campaign. The Tridents played in League B, and were drawn in Group B, along with Trinidad & Tobago, the Dominican Republic, and Montserrat. Trinidad & Tobago was later replaced by Nicaragua, which was relegated from the League A.

Barbados suffered a come-from-behind 3-2 loss away to Montserrat, then lost 4-2 at thome. They were beaten 5-1 away and 4-0 at home by Nicaragua. And they lost 5-2 and 5-0 to the DR. Consequently, the national team has been relegated to League C.

The Concacaf Nations League will continue to be played in a three-league format, with Barbados to play in League C, Group A. The top-ranked team in the group, Barbados will host games in November, The Bahamas will host games in October, And the USVI, will host the two games in September.

Team Barbados’ first match at the Bethlehem Soccer Complex in Saint Croix will be against the Bahamas (Saturday 7th September), followed by the US Virgin Islands (Tuesday 10th September).

Notably absent is 22-year-old Thierry Gale, the second-generation Barbados international, who plays as a forward for Austrian club Rapid Wien.

Up front as well, the Tridents will do without Hallam Hope, who plies his trade with EFL League Two club Morecambe. The 30-year-old last played for Barbados in October 2023.

Also out, after appearing in the World Cup Qualifiers in June, is Nicoli Brathwaite, a 23-year-old midfielder with ACS Progresul Ezeriș in Romania’s Liga III.

Brandon Sumpter, a 21-year-old goalkeeper with South West Queensland Thunder in New Zealand, has been left out.

With more than 150 caps between them, the Weymouth Wales trio of midfielder Hadan Holligan, defenders Mario Williams and Ricardio Morris will rejoin the team.

Khalil Vanderpool-Nurse will be hoping to see the pitch. The 19-year-old Dubai City FC winger played four games and scored two goals at Under-20 level this year.

24-year-old Canada-born central defender Nathan Walters has received a maiden call-up. Into his third season with Altitude FC in the League1 BC Men’s competition, Walters is an imposing figure at 6’3″.

The Concacaf Nations League features the region’s 41 men’s senior national teams and takes place during the FIFA Match Windows of September, October, and November 2024. The Concacaf Nations League Finals are scheduled for March 2025.

National Senior Men’s Squad:

Andre Applewhaite

Ackeel Applewhaite

Zachary Applewhite

Nicoli Brathwaite

Khimani Cox

Jaylan Gilkes

Justin Griffith

Carl Hinkson

Hadan Holligan

Sheran Hoyte

Kevon Lucas

Jireh Malcolm

Ricardio Morris

Shay Prescod

Kishmar Primus

Niall Reid-Stephen

Nathan Sealy

Ethan Taylor

Khalil Vanderpool-Nurse

Nathan Walters

Justin White

Mario Williams

Management Team:

Head Coach – Kent Hall

Assistant Coach – Marlon Harte

Manager – Ortis Williams

Equipment Manager – Orlando Mapp

Sports Therapist – Johann Lashley

Trainer – Chad Bynoe

Goalkeeping Coach – Bernard Howell

Press Officer – Anmar Goodridge-Boyce

(PR/TF)