While the power teams in CONCACAF play non-glamor friendlies, the top teams in the Caribbean are getting set for a quick pair of matches over a week to determine which teams will compete in next year's Caribbean Cup and likely, by extension, the 2017 Gold Cup.
Adding to the already difficult task facing Caribbean teams that already get very little time together, have long distances to travel and must play two games in short succession, there's a hurricane blowing through parts of the region. Jamaica's opening game with Suriname has been postponed, and it's unlikely that Haiti's game with French Guiana will go ahead as planned. The CFU released a statement Monday that said it's monitoring the situation.
Obviously, the natural disaster will be first and foremost in everyone's thoughts in Haiti, Jamaica and anywhere else affected by Hurricane Matthew. The Dominican Republic may be affected as well, and that country's national team is already in Trinidad and Tobago preparing for one of the games that will go ahead. It's a stiff test for the loosely organized side against the Caribbean's only Hex team and the DR will hope it can avoid a repeat of its worst ever defeat, a 9-0 reverse suffered in Port of Spain in 2008.
Also going ahead is Antigua and Barbuda traveling to face Curacao in an intriguing Group 3 opener with both teams later taking on Puerto Rico. All three sides have recent triumphs to point to but also have their organizational struggles. Curacao rolled through the previous round of qualification, and a first Gold Cup appearance since 1963 could be on the horizon, but defending home turf will be necessary. Otherwise, a Puerto Rico team with star forward Hector Ramos back in the fold could take top spot.
Once the matches start, Jamaica may be the most intriguing team to watch. One of the Caribbean's powers, the team was riding high after appearing in the 2015 Gold Cup final. With a combination of a group of England-based players who qualify for Jamaica because of ancestry and talent farmed from within the region, hopes were high that Jamaica would return to the World Cup for the first time since 1998. That dream died in the Fourth Round of qualification, and Winfried Schaefer and the team have parted ways in an ugly split.
Jamaica now must move forward, but, perhaps to save costs, is doing so in this window without its Europe-based stars. Instead, Jamaica is looking to the United States to form most of its squad. A dozen of the players that caretaker manager Theodore Whitmore has called up for these matches are based in the U.S. New York Red Bulls defender Kemar Lawrence, Philadelphia Union goalkeeper Andre Blake and New England Revolution D-M Je-Vaughn Watson are among the familiar names and will be important for Jamaica as it looks to thrive even without Adrian Mariappa, Michael Hector and Wes Morgan in defense and Garath McCleary, Rodolph Austin and Jobi McAnuff going forward.
The MLS-heavy group will face a Guyana team that called a huge number of players into camp and then trimmed the number down with Philadelphia Union midfielder Warren Creavalle set to make his debut as a Golden Jaguar. But with players old (forward Gregory Richardson) and young (goalkeeper Anthony Whyte) alike not included in the squad, Jamaica seems like a big ask for a team that couldn't top Curacao last go-round. Still, the Reggae Boyz are vulnerable, and this will be a test of the talent that Jamaica has both locally and nearby in the U.S.
With the preface that Caribbean matches are nearly impossible to predict, I think it would serve you, the reader, to break down my favorites from each group. I like Jamaica, Haiti, Curacao, and Trinidad and Tobago to win their groups with St. Kitts and Nevis, Puerto Rico, and Martinique the teams that will compete in November for passage to the fifth-place playoff.
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