The Puerto Rican national football team has never achieved qualification for the FIFA World Cup or the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Los Boricuas have an opportunity to make history in this year’s edition of the Gold Cup. They find themselves just two wins away from qualification with their most impressive squad in recent periods.
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico’s Gold Cup roster is extremely youthful with only three players being 26 or older, only one player over 30. In fact, the average age of the squad is 22 years old. Many of the players are being called up from youth academies or United States collegiate soccer programs.
The young squad performed well during the CONCACAF Nations League winning all four games in League C Group D. That performance, and winning the group, is the reason for qualification to the Preliminary Round of the Gold Cup.
Names to Know – Puerto Rico
Ricardo Rivera was the top scorer for Puerto Rico during the Nations League campaign. He scored six goals in addition to two assists. Attacker Joel Burgos added two goals. Burgos scored his two goals as a substitute, adding an attacking threat that can be introduced in the course of a match.
League C Best XI honors were awarded to Sidney Paris and Devin Vega. They were joined in a four-man midfield by Leandro Antonetti and Gerald Diaz in Puerto Rico’s last competitive match. Diaz contributed two goals and an assist during League C play. Isaac Angking also featured in the midfield scoring two goals as well.
The most experienced player in the squad is Zarek Valentin. His main position is right back but he has featured in both full-back positions. Roberto Ydrach has also featured at right back. The left-back position has been occupied by Christopher Dilan and Gio Calderon. In the center-back pairing, Nicolas Cardona, and Rodolfo Sulia are the most capped players. After performing well in his three starts in the Nations League, Joel Serrano should remain as the preferred keeper.
Charlie Trout
El Huracán Azul has been led by head coach Charlie Trout since March 2023. He was in charge for the final two games of the Nations League campaign. In his two games in charge, Puerto Rico scored nine goals and kept two clean sheets.
Prior to being named head coach, Trout enjoyed a collegiate career at the University of Illinois at Chicago as well as a coaching stint with the Flames. While at UIC, he began coaching at Chicago FC United as well as in the Chicago Fire Academy. Trout has been highly regarded by his peers as an incredible developer of youth talent.
With international football, you, “don’t get a lot of time with the players” so “our preparation is key” according to Trout. “The work that we do on the field has to be crystal clear. Preparation for Suriname started as soon as we [knew] who we were playing.”
Trout is cognizant of the youthfulness of the squad, but he describes their mentality as “hungry.” “They see this as a great opportunity.” He is “confident that we can put Puerto Rico on the map and advance through that game. We’re not here to make up the numbers. We’re not just happy to be here.”
Being two games away from Gold Cup qualification, Trout said, “It’s a wonderful opportunity for the federation…for the players…for myself and the staff. Now is the time to prove and show that we are a serious team in CONCACAF. Once we can prove that then those conversations become a lot easier to persuade somebody to come to Puerto Rico and push their career paths with us.”
Suriname
Puerto Rico will open their tournament in the Preliminary Round – First Round against Suriname. Suriname has qualified for the tournament three times previously, including the formerly branded CONCACAF Championship, and are eager to improve their best finish of 6th place in 1977. They made the group stage in the 2021 tournament but failed to progress to the knockout rounds.
The 23-player roster submitted by Suriname contains a diverse offering of players available for selection. No player plays for a domestic club in the SVB Eerste Divisie, the highest level of football in Suriname. The roster consists of players playing across Europe, Asia, and North America. The squad is also more experienced with an average age of 28.
A concerted effort has been made by the Surinaamse Voetbal Bond to attract Dutch professional footballers from the Surinamese diaspora to represent Suriname at the international level. That effort is reflected in the roster as six players currently apply their trade in the Netherlands. Additionally, there are many players that represented the Netherlands at the youth level.
Names to Know – Suriname
The Suriname attack is spearheaded by Sheraldo Becker. Becker applies his trade for Union Berlin of the Bundesliga. He scored 11 goals this season, contributing heavily to their qualification to next season’s Champions League. Expected to be alongside him are Mitchell te Vrede and Florian Jozefzoon. te Vrede brings a distinct physical presence to the attack with his 6’3″ frame. He scored 10 goals this season for Hatta of the UAE Pro League.
Creativity in the midfield will be provided by Tjaronn Chery. Chery tallied eight goals and six assists in 23 appearances for Maccabi Haifa. Despite only having four caps, he is one of the most senior players at 35 years old. Options in the deeper areas of midfield may include the premier youth of the squad. Dhoraso Klas and Roscello Vlijter are two of the youngest players in the squad at 22 and 23 years old, respectively. Positional flexibility could see traditional full-backs Kenneth Paal and Kelvin Leerdam deployed in midfield.
If not in the midfield, Paal could feature in the left-back position. Shaquille Pinas is another option for the left side of the defense. Anfernee Dijksteel is regarded as the most likely option to occupy the right full-back position. In the center-back pairing, Stefano Denswil and Myenty Abena provide an experienced option. Pinas could also feature in the pairing. Joey Roggeveen is expected to remain the first option in goal for Suriname.
Aron Winter
Suriname is led by manager Aron Winter. His playing career spanned from 1986-2003. During his career he played for Ajax, Lazio, and Inter Milan, followed by a return to Ajax, which would be his final club before retirement. His managerial career began in the Ajax academy before being hired by MLS’ Toronto FC to be their head coach. After a year at the helm in Toronto, he returned to the Netherlands coaching their U-19 team followed by a return to Ajax. He was named the interim manager of Suriname in September 2022.
On the match with Puerto Rico, Winter said, “It’s not going to be an easy game, but we’re confident we can win with this roster. After that, we have to win another qualifier and then we can play in the Gold Cup. We believe one hundred percent that we are going to place ourselves.” This tournament is a first step according to Winter to “put Suriname on the map worldwide.”
Preliminary Round – First Round
The match will take place Saturday, June 17th at 7:00 PM ET at DRV PNK Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The victor of this matchup will progress to a second qualification match against the winner of Martinique and Saint Lucia on June 20th at DRV PNK Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
The winner of that match will qualify for the Group Stage of the Gold Cup joining Costa Rica, Panama, and El Salvador in Group C. Group C play begins at DRV PNK Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on Monday, June 26th.
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