2 weeks ago
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THE new Concacaf Caribbean Cup champions, Cavalier SC, returned home yesterday following their historic triumph in the competition which saw them defeating the Dominican Republic’s Cibao FC 3-2 based on the away goals rule. According to Rudolph Speid, head coach of Cavalier, the togetherness of the club worked well and was very important in achieving their objective.
“We have a lot of resourceful people that helped us in the background. The organisation was exceptional and everything went according to plan,” he stated.
As if winning the championships wasn’t enough, Cavalier swept every award on offer. Dwayne Atkinson won the best player award, Shaquille Stein was the top goal scorer, Vino Barclett was voted the best goalkeeper, Jalmaro Calvin won the best young player award, and the team capped it off by claiming the Fair Play award. Speid jokingly suggested that all the awards were expected, except the Fair Play awards.
“Well, that (Fair Play award) was surprising. The rest wasn’t as we got down to the end of the competition, but it’s really a good feeling as I don’t believe another team has ever done that. Everyone is pleased for the hard work they’ve done as we were on top of our game from the start,” he added.
Speid explained that the approach taken for the Caribbean championships is vastly different from that used for the Jamaica Premier League. He believes much more assessment goes into preparing for Caribbean games compared to the ones on home soil.
“It’s two different competitions. The teams know us in the Jamaica Premier League while those in the Caribbean do not know as much. We also set up to play them differently and conduct more scouting on them. Teams in the Jamaica Premier League come to frustrate us, but we’ll be ready,” he added.
Cavalier, who are also defending their title in the Jamaica Premier League, will hit the ground running on Sunday against Molynes United. Speid believes it’s time to reshift focus back to the local league, which they left on a losing note following a 1-0 defeat against Racing United.
“It’s crucial. We’re sixth in the competition and don’t want anybody to say we have a game in hand. The last game in hand that we had, we lost. It’s crucial for us to get back to winning ways, and I think we’ll be ready and focused,” he said.
English (US) ·