The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

COACH Gifton Noel-Williams said if the Bahamas Football Association men's national soccer team wasn't short-handed, they would have performed much better against Saint Martin.

Playing with just 13 players, including one goalkeeper and a coach, who was inserted into the line-up, the Bahamas got blown away 8-0 on Saint Martin on Wednesday in their first game of the 2026/27 Concacaf Nations League in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Bahamas, playing in League C, Group C, will get a chance to avenge their disappointing loss when they take on US Virgin Islands on Tuesday at 4 pm. The US Virgin Islands is coming off a 2-0 loss to Saint Martin on Saturday.

"After a bad start, the boys are looking confident and upbeat again in our training session for our next game," said Noel-Williams, who is assisted by Kevin Davies, Andre Roberts and Avery Kemp.

"The nerves have gotten out of their system now and we have a few more players arriving who were not here for the first game when we ended up playing the last 25 minutes with ten men because our squad was light."

During the match against Saint Martin, Team Bahamas had to use one of their goalkeepers as a substitute, along with one of their official subs and another, a former player now on the team as an assistant coach.

"We were short on numbers for our first game," Noel-Williams said. "We don't have any professional players, so most of our players are coming from universities or jobs where they are working.

"Because the window is so long, they were not able to get away from college or work for the whole window over the 16 days. So, we knew that the first game was going to be tough. But we have about six players who just got here, so we expect the second game to be much more competitive, and we can get some points from the USVI."

Expected to suit up for Team Bahamas against the USVI are the following:

Vnce Wheaton (GK), Muchael Butler (GK), Lance Carroll (Def.); Jonathan Miller (Def.), Willim Bayls (Mid.), Michael Massey (Mid.), Quinton Carey (Def.), Creven Ferguson (Mid.), ReJohn Ene (Def.), Christophe Rahming (Mid.), Wood Julmis (Fwd), Brndon Adderley (Fwd), Hppy Hall (Def.), Omar Chemaly (Def.), Omari Bain (Mid), Nathan Wells (Mid), Marcel Joseph (Fwd), Prince Cooper (Def) and Ian Lowe (GK).

The other members of the team staff include Frederick Lunn as head of delegation, Larry 'Captain Bahamas' Minns as manager, Carlton Adderley as equipment manager., Bruce Swan as technical director and Daniel Miller as medical personnel.

The Bahamas, Saint Martin and the USVI will play each other twice during the September-October FIFA international window, with all Group C matches taking place at the Bethlehem Soccer Complex in St. Croix.

This year marks the fifth edition of the Concacaf Nations League featuring nine teams divided into three groups of three, with each team playing four group-stage matches.

The three group winners and the best second-place finisher will advance to the inaugural League C Championship in March 2027 and earn promotion to League B.

The competition also forms part of the qualification pathway for the 2027 Concacaf Gold Cup which will commence in November 2026.

The Bahamas has previously earned promotion through the Nations League. In the inaugural 2019/20 edition, the national team went undefeated in League C with three wins and one draw, earning 10 points while scoring 10 goals and conceding two on its way to promotion to League B.

The national team later competed in League B before returning to League C following the 2023/24 edition. In 2024/25, The Bahamas finished second in League C Group A with a 1-1-2 record and four points, behind group winner Barbados.

For this year's tie, Noel-Williams said without all of their players, he didn't expect to put up such a strong fight against Saint Martin, but he didn't anticipate that they would have gotten blown out the way they did.

"When we came to the 60th and 70th minute when people were pulling up with cramps or tired legs, we didn't have the kind of substitutes that we needed against Saint Martin. Those players had to keep on going," Noel-Williams said.

"With this game coming up, we will have the substitutes and the fresh legs to make the team better and hopefully we can push to get the victory over USVI. When we put USVI on Tuesday, every team will be on free points. We will be at square one."

After playing their second match against the US Virgin Islands tomorrow at 4 pm, the Bahamas' third match will be on Sunday, October 4 against the US Virgin Islands and then they will wrap play on Tuesday, October 6 against Saint Martin 4 pm.