United States’s Christian Pulisic kicks the ball during an international friendly soccer match between Northern
Ireland and United States, at Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland, Sunday, March 28, 2021. (Associated
Press/Peter Morrison, fi le) Peter Morrison
Caribbean Life, June 4-10, 2021 59
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By Nelson A. King
The semifinals of the CONCACAF
Nations League Finals (CNLF) were
expected to be kicked off on Thursday
at Empower Field at Mile High
in Denver, Colorado with the United
States and Honduras set to play.
According to CONCACAF, the US
punched their ticket to the CNLF by
virtue of finishing first in Group A of
League A of the CNL with a 3W-0D-
1L record.
“While the US led all teams in
League A in scoring with 15 goals
and conceding just three, it was
hardly an easy road to the CNLF,”
CONCACAF said.
It said an opening 7-0 win over
Cuba in the October 2019 window,
thanks to a Weston McKennie hat
trick, “gave the US a bright start, but
things got a lot more difficult four
days later in Toronto when the US
Continued on Page 60
General view of Warner Park, Basseterre,
St Kitts & Nevis. Action Images via
Reuters / Jason O’Brien
CPL faces
cash crunch
By Azad Ali
The Caribbean Premier League (CPL)
has continued to experience the fallout
from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic,
but remains confident this year’s showpiece
in St. Kitts and Nevis would be a
success.
For the second straight year, players
and officials will be subject to a pay cut
and even though fans could return for
this year’s tournament, they will have
to be fully vaccinated and limited to
only half the capacity of the Warner
Park venue.
Continued on Page 60
Hetmyer to
debut with PSL
By Azad Ali
West Indies middle order batsman,
Shimron Hetmyer is all set to make his
debut in the Pakistan Super League
(PSL) after getting picked as a replacement
player for the United Arab Emirates
(UAE) leg.
Recently, 13 players were either
replaced or added to the existing PSL
six squads ahead of the tournament’s
resumption in Abu Dhabi later this
month via a virtual draft.
Hetmyer, who was featured in the
CPL and IPL so far in franchise cricket,
was picked up by Multan Sultans, as a
replacement player.
Multan also chose another West
Indies hard-hitting batsman Johnson
Charles who was part of the victorious
West Indies World T20 side in 2016.
Continued on Page 60
SET TO
TANGLE
How Honduras, US reach CNLF
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