Hundreds of football fanatics gathered at the Ambergris Stadium in San Pedro Town on Saturday, August 4th to witness Belize’s Jaguars victory over the Barbados Tridents in a friendly match.
The international friendly match was aimed at preparing the teams for the upcoming Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) tournament. Among the players representing Belize were San Pedro’s very own Jesse Smith and Asrel Sutherland.
After official formalities, the match began shortly after 8PM, with both teams going on the offensive in hopes of a victory. The entire first half was a mix of passes and crosses, but no goals at the halftime, the score was 0-0.
After the break, the game intensified, with teams coming close to scoring. With the match drawing to an end, fans loudly demanding a score. And at minute 74, Belize’s Krisean Lopez delivered, nailing the first goal for his team. Down by one, Barbados tried their best to even score but Jaguar’s goalkeeper managed to block them all. When the final whistle blew, Belize claimed the 1-0 victory.
Krisean Lopez told The San Pedro Sun that his goal was unexpected but he was thrilled. “I’m more than happy to be the scorer of the game and be able to bring the victory to my team,” he said.
Head coach of Belize’s National Team, Palmiro Salas told The San Pedro Sun that the teams has been practicing arduously and that they will continue to do so in order to give their best at the CONCACAF tournament. Councilor in charge of Sports, Hector ‘Tito’ Alamilla also shared a few words about the great turnout. “As expected, we had a full house of fans. It was really nice and made it even more fun with their support to the team.”
The San Pedro Sun joins the community in congratulating Belize for their victory against Barbados. The next international friendly match for Belize is against Bahamas, scheduled to take place on Friday, September 7th at the Isidoro Beaton Stadium in Belmopan City.
