The 2024-25 Concacaf Nations League kicks off on September 4, featuring the Confederation’s 41 men’s senior national teams.
Saint Lucia remains in League B, where the Piton Boyz will play Curacao, Grenada, and Saint Martin in Group B.
The fourth edition of the tournament will be played during the FIFA Match Windows of September, October, and November 2024.
Instead of home-and-away fixtures, each group’s top three ranked teams will host two matches each gameday.
Grenada will host this week’s matches. Saint Lucia opens against Curacao on Friday, then plays Grenada the following Monday.
In October, Saint Lucia will play Saint Martin twice and in the same month, they will travel to Curacao for games against Curacao and Saint Martin.
Head coach Stern John told St Lucia Times that he is looking forward to the week ahead, and the opportunity to show continued growth within his squad.
“We have two important games coming up against Curacao and Grenada. I think we look forward to the challenge. We know that Grenada and Curacao, they came from League A, and we know it’s gonna be a difficult challenge.
“Obviously we’ve been putting the guys through their paces the last couple of weeks. Some of the international players have been coming in. A few of them are not able to make it because of club commitments. I mean now it’s always a difficult time for the international players, around this time, because they just started their season and stuff like that. We don’t want it to be a fight between club and country.
“But so far so good. I think the preparation has been really good. Our philosophy still stands on how we want to play as a team. And we’re going to continue playing that way.
In last year’s CNL, Saint Lucia defeated Sint Maarten home and away, earned a win and a goalless draw against St Kitts & Nevis, stunned Guadeloupe with a home win, then lost 2-0 in the reverse fixture.
The squad was named on Monday, pending last-minute paperwork for some players. Absent is captain Terell Thomas, who just moved to Carlisle United from Charlton Athletic in England. Also missing are Dominic Poleon (Ebbsfleet United) and Reeco Hackett-Fairchild (Lincoln City). Hackett-Fairchild is recovering from an injury he sustained last season.
Melvin Doxilly will take over the captain’s armband. A Gros Islet native, he can play in central defence or in front of the back four. A two-time Jamaica Premier League winner, he is now with his third club, having just signed with Portmore United.
Doxilly could also play in a back three, which the technical team has used occasionally. He would be joined by Choiseul-born Janoi Donacien, out of contract, but most recently with Ipswich, and newcomer Chris Forino. It’s been two years since the Bolton Wanderers centre-back pledged his international future to Saint Lucia, so his debut has been a long time coming.
The grizzled veteran Kurt Frederick is back, one of three players from Grenades FC in Antigua & Barbuda. He will hold down the left side of the defence and contribute to the attack with his marauding runs. If included, Arkell Jude-Boyd will be able to mirror that ability on the right side. Jude-Boyd, with Cheltenham in England, has been on the national team radar for a while now. Alvinus Myers would also be a good option on the right side of the park.
The entire midfield has been developed at home, although Sherman Augustin and Ridel Stanislaus have played for Grenades for the past couple of years. Shaquan Nelson has also played briefly in Jamaica.
Up front, a lot will be asked of second-generation Saint Lucia international, Caniggia Elva. A frontman for Rot-Weiß Erfurt, Elva is following his father, Titus in the family trade.
Insisting that the players in the squad are prepared to get the job done against two very tricky opponents, Coach John Stern nonetheless acknowledged his desire to field a genuine full-strength team. He told St Lucia Times that several circumstances continue to cause players to be unable to link up with the national team. But he also said that with the team enjoying a degree of success over the past two years, a lot more people are excited about the project.
“It’s difficult, since I’ve been here, on paper we have a really strong team that can compete against a lot of countries around the world. But we haven’t got a chance to put that strong team on the pitch at the same time. Most of the time maybe we don’t get them because of injuries and player commitment with their clubs and stuff like that.
“So hopefully within this window and the October window we can have that full nucleus of players and we can really show the Saint Lucians how strong our team is, because I think we are a really strong team when we have all our players here.”
FULL SQUAD FOR CONCACAF NATIONS LEAGUE:
Goalkeepers:Vino Barclett (Cavaliers, Jamaica)Lamar Joseph-Johnson (Enfield FC, England)Darren Donaie (Gros Islet)Defenders:Melvin Doxilly (Portmore, Jamaica)Chris Forino Joseph (Bolton Wanderers, England)Alvinus Myers (Portmore, Jamaica)Arkell Jude-Boyd (Cheltenham Town, England)Canius Sandiford (La Clery)Sebastien Ribot (Gros Islet)Janoi Donacien (Ipswich Town, England)Kurt Frederick (Grenades FC, Antigua)Midfielders:Shaquan Nelson (Castries Central)Sherman Augustin (Grenades FC, Antigua)Ridel Stanislas (Grenades FC, Antigua)Leaus Henville (Mabouya Valley)Brandon Sandiford (Mabouya Valley)Melvin Aurelien (Gros Islet)Forwards:Caniggia Elva (Rot-Weiß Erfurt, Germany)Sherwin Simon (Golden Stars, Martinique)Baggio Edward (Gros Islet)Riquelme Lionel (Gros Islet)Donavan Jn Baptiste (Canaries)Mikel Castang (Gros Islet)
STAFF:Stern John – HEADCOACHDenver Samuel – MANAGERFrancis Lastic – ASSISTANT COACHMarco Masucci – ASSISTANT COACHSabbatus Hunte – PHYSICAL TRAINERBernard President – GOAL KEEPING COACHTiffany Anthony – PHYSIOTHERAPISTAquil Heuton – PHYSIO /MASSEUSE
