After Montserrat’s stunning draw against El Salvador in last Sunday’s World Cup Qualifier, captain Lyle Taylor spoke with FIFA.com about what this means for him and the team.
Taylor, who plays for Nottingham Forest FC brought Montserrat from 0-1 fight to even things in the 89th minute against El Salvador, a team which is 113 places above the local team.
He had previously scored two goals in the 2-2 match with Antigua and Barbuda on March 24, a team 57 places above them on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking.
Love it, Lyle 👏@lyletaylor90 scored this leveller to secure a point for Montserrat against El Salvador last night 🇲🇸⚽️ #NFFC
🎥: lyle_taylor33 on IG pic.twitter.com/7XffNPRMkg
— Nottingham Forest FC 💙 (@NFFC) March 29, 2021
Montserrat, now ranked 183rd is punching above their weight with a solid squad of 23, mostly of players with grandparents born on island, which make them eligible to play on the national team.
Taylor told FIFA.com “I get to play with my brother and with, I call them “brothers”. We are a family. The majority of the group have been together for about six years. It’s definitely special.
“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t more special than club football because it’s representing where I’m from and where my family have been and everything that makes us “us” as a family. It is very, very special and to be able to captain a country and walk the boys out and to go to war as we do every time we step on the pitch is a special feeling.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do just to get to the next qualifying group before the impossible dream of getting there, let’s be honest. Little ol’ Montserrat getting to the group qualifying stages would be massive. But that’s where we want to get,” Taylor shared.
As the 70th-ranked team in the world, El Salvador is the highest-ranked side Montserrat have ever drawn against.
Read the full article here –> https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/taylor-not-even-wembley-compares-to-playing-with-my-montserrat-family
