Since Monday, Belize National "A" Football Team, the Jaguars, has been in Managua, Nicaragua.
They're there to play to compete against Nicaragua for their third match the first round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
They travelled to Managua by road on a 25 hour journey.
Belize is ranked 170 while Nicaragua is ranked 147.
Team Belize has already played 2 matches. In the first match, they lost to Haiti with a score of 2-nil. However, in the second match, they handily defeated the Turks and Caicos National team with 5 goals to zero. And now, they will take on the Nicaraguan national team.
This afternoon, the FFB organized a zoom press conference with the team to get their pre-game views on what to expect in tomorrow's game.
7News participated in the press conference, and here's what the coach and his team had to say to football fans:
Marlon Kuylen - Executive Member, FFB
"We're in a must-win situation. We need to beat Nicaragua, and then that Nicaragua beats Haiti. We'll all be tied. It'll be a 3-way tie in points, and then the team with the best goal record will then advance."
Dale Pelayo Sr. - Head Coach, Belize National Team
"Since we arrived in Nicaragua on Monday, the team went into a 2-day recovery process, and that process went well. Yesterday, we started our preparation for the game, which we had our first training at 5 p.m., which was a success. This afternoon, we have a technical meeting with the team, with players and coaching staff, and then we leave for final training at 5 p.m., which the final training for the game on the pitch that we will be playing. The team is focused. We are ready. We are not - as I mentioned to the team in every session, that the press is not on us. It is expected that the pressure will be on Nicaragua. They're at home, and we just have to stay focus, stick to our game plan, and I have all confidence in the 17 players that are here."
Deon McCaulay - Co-Captain, Belize National team
"I feel like the players that we have here can do the job. We have a lot of younger players with experienced players as well. I feel like we're ready for the game."
Ian Gaynair - Member, Belize National Team
"I love the mixture of players that we have, young, old, middle-aged players. I feel that we could go out there and do great things. And I am glad that some of our older players are here to nurture the younger players, and pass the baton to them. They are willing to learn from us. They listen to us; me, Deon, and the rest of the senior guys talk to them. They are very open to learning from our experience."
Charles Tillett - Goalkeeper, Belize National Team
"I'm excited. I think I prepared myself. These couple past weeks, I was working hard. Unfortunately, our senior goalkeeper, Woodrow, couldn't make it. So, I guess I have a big responsibility, and I'm ready for it."
As you heard, goalkeeper Woodrow West won't be participating in tomorrow's game. For days now, members of the football community have been speculating as to why he and others who made the final cut are not part of the delegation. The press asked FFB's Marlon Kuylen about that, and here's what he had to say:
Marlon Kuylen
"As you know, the coach called up quite a number of players, and then, going into the last week, we had 23 players who were chosen to travel. However, some of them, for personal reasons, decided that they did not want to go. And so, I know a of people have been asking the FFB, well, why aren't these players on the list? It's because they chose not to go, except for one player that was for disciplinary reasons. But, we cannot answer for the reasons exactly why the players did not go. So, you'd have to contact them personally."
The Jaguars face off against Nicaragua tomorrow at 7:00 p.m.
