Suriname can continue to dream of the World Cup in Qatar, after a stunning 6-0 victory over Bermuda. The next obstacle and so far the most difficult for the team of national coach Dean Gorré is the meeting with Canada on Tuesday.
Sports editor
Last update:
11:55
At Franklin Essed Stadium in Paramaribo, Suriname had no children with Bermuda on Friday evening (local time). After fifteen minutes it was already 2-0, after which ‘de Natio’, as the Suriname national team is called, simply led to a big result. Forward Nigel Hasselbaink was the big man with three goals, the other goals were scored by Sheraldo Becker (twice) and Shaquille Pinas.
Feyenoorder Ridgeciano Haps made his debut for Suriname. He was immediately given a basic place in Gorré. Former Feyenoord player Mitchell te Vrede (now Al-Fateh, Saudi Arabia) also made his first minutes as a substitute in Suriname’s white-red-green jersey.
The rest of the selection also contains a lot of Eredivisie experience. Many players who play or have played in the Netherlands are part of the group that dreams of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, such as Warner Hahn, Damil Dankerlui, Ryan Donk, Shaquille Pinas, Ramon Leeuwin, Kelvin Leerdam, Mitchell Donald, Roland Alberg, Dion Malone, Ryan Koolwijk, Tjaronn Chery, Nigel Haisselbaink, Sheraldo Becker, Diego Biseswar and Florian Jozefzoon.
Long and difficult road to Qatar
After the victory over Bermuda and previous victories over the Cayman Islands (3-0) and Aruba (0-6), Suriname leads Group B in the Concacaf zone. In it, the 35 countries of North and Central America and the Caribbean countries compete for three places at the World Cup.
But the road to Qatar is long and difficult. Only the group winner advances to the next round, where one of the other five group winners waits in a double confrontation. The winners of these duels will face the best countries of the Concacaf zone in the final round of a full competition: Mexico, United States, Costa Rica, Jamaica and Honduras. The best three go directly to Qatar, the number four still playing an intercontinental play-off.
Canada’s biggest competitor
Suriname’s main contender for the necessary first place in the squad is Canada’s star from Bayern Munich, Alphonso Davies. Canada meets Aruba, coached by Stanley Menzo, on Saturday night. Canada has won both games so far, beating Bermuda 5-1 and Cayman Islands 11-0.
The decisive squatter between Suriname and Canada will follow in the final round on Tuesday at Toyota Park stadium in the US city of Bridgeview near Chicago. Then it will become clear whether Suriname’s World Cup dream will remain intact for now.
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