The Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Boys Under-14 Challenge Series wrapped up its Group D Tier II group stage on Wednesday at Cap Cana Sports City in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, with Suriname delivering a dominant 7-1 defeat over a gritty Saint Lucia side to book their place in the tournament’s semifinal round.
The young Suriname squad jumped out to an insurmountable lead before halftime, netting five unanswered goals to put the match out of Saint Lucia’s reach early. Alexander Alberga, Suriname’s breakout star of the fixture, opened the scoring in the 20th minute, powering past two Saint Lucian defenders to slot home the opening goal. Just two minutes later, a misjudged weak header from Saint Lucia’s backline put Alberga in on goal again, and he made no mistake to double his side’s lead.
Suriname kept the pressure high, extending their advantage to 3-0 in the 25th minute when Cillquinhio Plet scored directly from a corner kick, curling the ball into the net past a stranded Saint Lucian goalkeeper. Alberga completed his first-half hat trick in the 28th minute, latching onto a precision through ball from the midfield to beat the keeper once more. A minute later, the Suriname striker turned provider, playing a through pass to Valentinho Amaisi who finished with a low shot into the bottom corner of the net, sending the teams into halftime with Suriname up 5-0.
Saint Lucia’s goalkeeper put in a series of impressive saves to stem the Suriname attack early in the second half, but two quick mistakes handed Suriname two more goals within the opening 11 minutes of the half. The first came in the 50th minute, when the keeper’s attempted clearance rebounded off Amaisi and bounced into the empty net. Just 60 seconds later, the referee called a controversial penalty against the Saint Lucia goalkeeper, and Vaughn Zeegelaar converted the spot kick to push Suriname’s lead to 7-0.
Saint Lucia earned a moment of celebration in the 58th minute, when Jaden Antoine of New Generation FC headed home a corner kick to notch his side’s only goal of the match. The result marked Saint Lucia’s second group stage loss of the tournament, with their only three points coming from a victory over the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) earlier in group play.
Final group stage standings put Suriname at the top of Group D on goal difference, after finishing the round with one win over USVI by a 10-0 score and a 1-1 draw with Grenada. Grenada, who recorded a 9-0 win over USVI and a 3-2 victory over Saint Lucia, claimed the second place spot in the group. Saint Lucia finished third in the four-team group, while USVI ended the round at the bottom of the table with zero points from three matches.
Suriname’s first-place finish advances the side to the Tier II semifinal round, scheduled to kick off on Friday. The winning sides from the semifinals will go on to compete in the Tier II championship match this Sunday.