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Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor

IT’S a small Caribbean island known around the globe more for its cricket and Sir Vivian Richards, a Hall of Famer, who is widely celebrated as one of the greatest batsman of all-time.

He was a regular member of probably the finest West Indies team ever, scoring 4000 Test runs, at number three, at an average of 62.

The cricket bible, Wisden, named him as the greatest ODI batsman of all-time, in December 2002, at a time when various publications were honouring their finest sports stars, to celebrate the new millennium.

Curtly Ambrose is another cricket great, from the island, with the gangly and fiery paceman having already sealed his place, among the game’s greatest bowlers.

In Antigua and Barbuda, the Caribbean island with a population of just about 97 000, and an area of roughly 440 square kilometres, Richards is the king and cricket is the main sport.

Football is also played on the island.

But, it’s not their national game which probably explains why they were ranked 170th in the world, in 2003, when the Warriors qualified for their maiden appearance, at the AFCON finals.

Their biggest defeat was a 1-11 thrashing, at the hands of Trinidad and Tobago, their fellow Caribbean islanders who, themselves, were thrashed 0-7, by the United States, in January this year.

Why are we worrying ourselves about Caribbean islands, you might rightly ask?

Well, Antigua and Barbuda have become our neighbours, in the FIFA world rankings, after the Warriors plunged to number 121, on the table released last week.

The Caribbean islanders are now ranked in 128th place, just seven slots behind the Warriors.

The Faroe Islanders are even closer to the Warriors, as they are ranked 123rd in the world, just two places behind Zimbabwe.

The Warriors now find themselves in the company of the Faroe Islands, who have a population of just about 53 000.

While Zimbabwe have players featuring the English Premiership and the French Ligue 1, the same cannot be said about both Antigua and Barbuda and the Faroe Islands.

With a combined population of about 150 000, it’s probably understandable that these groups of islands do not have footballers, plying their trade, in the big leagues.

Well, the player who has won the Faroe Islands Footballer of the Year award, for the last two years, is a 23-year-old forward, Petur Knudsen, who plays for Danish lower division side, Lyngby Boldlkub.

He joined the club on June 30, this year, after their relegation from the Danish First Division.

In three appearances, for his country, Knudsen is yet to score a goal.

His debut, on the international scene, came in March this year, in a 2022, World Cup qualifier, which the Faroe Islands lost 1-3 to Austria.

His two Footballer of the Year gongs came when he was still playing at home, for a semi-professional club, NSI Runavik, a team which his father used to turn out for.

“It’s nice that people remember him and his bobble-hat — but to me he’s just my dad,’’ Knudsen told local journalists, after making his breakthrough, at NSI, three years ago.

“Our own stadium isn’t up to UEFA standard so the game is at Toftir, where my dad played against Scotland in the famous 2-2 game in 2002, so that will be nice.

“After the summer I’ll probably get a job in a fish factory, which is what most people in my town do.”

In 2018, the Footballer of the Year award went to Adrian Justinussen but such is his anonymity, on the international football stage, it’s hard to even find something about him, on Wikipedia.

The following year, the award was won by Jóannes Bjartalíð, who is now 25, and plays for local side Ki and the Faroe Islands national team.

An attacking midfielder, he is yet to score a goal, for his country, in the 15 matches he has played.

Predictably, his international debut came in a losing cause although, in terms of the pattern of results for the Faroe Islands, the 0-4 home loss, at the hands of Sweden, was probably a respectable scoreline.

Two years earlier, the Footballer of the Year gong had gone to Sølvi Vatnhamar, who now plays for Vikingur Gota, a local side, on the Faroe Islands. Víkingur are also a semi-professional outfit, who were formed just 13 years ago, when two clubs, including one from Division Two, came together.

They won the national championship during the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

This is the kind of lightweight company, in which the Warriors now find themselves, after their latest fall, on the FIFA world rankings.

The Warriors case was not helped, in the latest rankings, by their poor campaign, in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, in which they finished bottom of their group.

They lost four of their group games, and drew two others, to take the wooden spoon.

While the two points matches the tally, which the Warriors had, during the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, at least, back then, they scored more goals.

This time around, they could only score twice, including once from the penalty spot, when captain Knowledge Musona found the target, from a spot kick, in Ghana.

The Warriors waited until the final game, of their qualifiers, to score their first goal, from open play, in Group G which also featured South Africa, Ghana and Ethiopia.

Three coaches — Joey Antipas, Zdravko Logarusic and Norman Mapeza — were employed to take charge of the World Cup campaign which saw the Warriors also suffer a shock defeat, at the hands of Somalia.