Team falls 6-1 in CONCACAF Nations League play
- Simba French
- Nov 22, 2023 Updated 10 hrs ago
- 0
BAYAMÓN, Puerto Rico – Different day, same result.
It was not the way The Bahamas senior men’s national soccer team envisioned their match against Puerto Rico going last night as they fell 6-1 on a slippery field at the Estadio Juan Ramón Loubriel in Bayamón, Puerto Rico.
Playing at home for the first time in this edition of the Nations League, Puerto Rico pounced on The Bahamas in the second minute, going up 1-0 on a goal from Ricardo Rivera. He came back four minutes later and found the back of the net again.
“We started off very slow,” said Team Bahamas Head Coach Nesly Jean. “We had a game plan that we did not follow. We need to be more disciplined at this level. We explained to the guys that when we make mistakes we are going to get punished. It is a learning process for the guys. They are improving, but we need to get better moving forward.”
The Bahamas got used to the slippery grass and were able to defend the goal before Rivera struck again, completing a hat trick in the 19th minute to give his team a good cushion. Puerto Rico scored one more in the first half to go up 4-0, and the game began to get out of reach for The Bahamas.
Winger Marcel Joseph pulled The Bahamas back when he scored in the 53rd minute on a free kick. Joseph kicked the ball and Puerto Rican goalkeeper Joel Serrano saved it, or so he thought. The assistant referee who was closer to that play saw that Serrano caught the ball in the goal and awarded Joseph the goal. The goal was a good goal, but at the same time it was not impactful as Puerto Rico led 4-1 at that point.
“When I hit the ball and saw he stepped forward, I saw he caught it in the goal. I just wanted to hit the ball as hard as I could and luckily on a day like today, the ball went in. I am happy that it went in and I got myself a goal, but it is a goal that I am not satisfied with,” said Joseph who added that he would have liked it to come with a win.https://9aca1daf49dd432c78224e7be4ef4377.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html
Puerto Rico scored two more goals – one in the 74th minute by Gerald Diaz and the other from Wilfredo Rivera three minutes later.
The loss has The Bahamas at the bottom of the group with one point and a 0-1-4 win/loss/draw record. Puerto Rico officially finished second in the group with 12 points and a 5-0 record. Guyana officially won the group after shutting out Antigua and Barbuda, 6-0, last night. The Bahamas still has a chance to stay in the group if they beat Guyana by two goals. A decision on when that game will be played will come at a later date.