Eight pros to join Spice Boyz for Gold Cup

Leon Johnson

by Michael Bascombe

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada, May 17, 2011 – Grenada has called up eight professional players for next month’s CONCACAF Gold Cup Tournament to be played in the United States.

Coach Mike Adams has confirmed that Major League Soccer (MLS) standouts Shalrie Joseph and Craig Rocastle; Kithson Bain of the Carolina Railhawks of the North American Soccer League (NASL); and the UK-based Leon Johnson, Anthony Straker, Delroy Facey, Bradley Bubb and David Cyrus.

The team will be giving debuts to defender Johnson of Wycombe Wanderers and wing back Straker of Aldershot Town while strikers Facey and Bubb and defender Cyrus are returning to resume international duty.

Adams said that the overseas players are expected to assemble in St George’s this weekend for the official camp which begins on Monday May 23.

Anthony Straker

“The rest of the squad has been training as a unit for a while now and the training camp will give us (staff) the opportunity to fine-tune our preparations,” he said.

The return of Joseph to take charge of the midfield is expected to boost the team’s confidence of reaching the next round of the group stage which includes Caribbean champion Jamaica, Honduras and Guatemala.

The team will also include perennials Ricky Charles and Patrick and Anthony Modeste. The latter is believed to be one of the longest serving captains in world football. The three players are well respected in Caribbean football and have been a constant presence in the national team for more than a decade.

This is the second consecutive time that Grenada has qualified to play in the Gold Cup but Coach Adams says qualification is much more than mere participation.

“There are a number of historic milestones to reach, starting with gaining our first point, scoring our first goal and getting that first win. Then of course there is reaching the next round, all of these milestones can be achieved and we expect to do so.”

Grenada kicks off its group fixtures against Jamaica in Los Angeles on Monday June 6. The Spice Boyz also play Honduras in Miami on June 10 and then Guatemala on June 13 in New Jersey.