David Flavius Called Up To St. Lucia National Team
March 14, 2003 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC News Release
PITTSBURGH - St. Lucia native David Flavius has joined the island's national soccer team for three games as the team attempts to qualify for the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament.
The RIVERHOUNDS® all-time leading scorer returned to St. Lucia earlier this week to begin practice. The team enters a pre-tournament camp on March 17 and departs for Jamaica on March 21 where they will meet Jamaica (March 26), Haiti (March 28) and Martinique (March 30) in their qualifying group. Another group of Caribbean nations including Guadeloupe, Cuba, Trinidad/Tobago, and Antigua/Barbuda runs concurrent qualifying in Trinidad and Tobago.
This is the second stint with the St. Lucia Senior National Team for Flavius since he moved to the United States to attend college at Ohio Dominican University. His previous call up was also for the Gold Cup Qualifying in 2001.
Flavius is one of three St. Lucia national team members who play professionally outside of the country. One of the others is his older brother, Earl, who plays in the top league in Trinidad. Also a forward, Earl Flavius has served as the captain of the St. Lucia squad for several years. The pair has not seen each other since David's last call up.
The RIVERHOUNDS® Flavius is looking forward to the qualifying process with St. Lucia for several reasons. "I'm really looking forward to it," he said. "It's the part of my soccer career where I haven't made a statement. I've done it at all levels, but not at the senior national team level."
Flavius is also pleased about the timing. Although he will miss the first week of RIVERHOUNDS® training camp, he will be training regularly and have three games in much warmer and more humid weather to assist in his conditioning for the RIVERHOUNDS® season.
The top two teams from each Caribbean qualifying group move into a semifinal round. The top three teams emerging from the semifinals qualify directly to the Gold Cup, which commences July 12 in the United States and Mexico. The fourth team from the semifinals will playoff with Honduras (from the Central Zone qualifying) to determine the final Gold Cup qualifying team.
If St. Lucia advances out of their group to the semifinals, Flavius is expected to stay with the team to complete the qualifying. If the team does not advance, he will join the HOUNDS® training camp during the first week of April.
The United States is the defending champion of the 2002 Gold Cup. The U.S. Men's National Team begins its defense of the title on July 12 at Foxboro Stadium against El Salvador. The Gold Cup final takes place July 27 at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. In addition to the U.S. and El Salvador, Mexico, Brazil, Columbia and Costa Rica have advanced to the tournament.
The RIVERHOUNDS® open their 2003 home schedule on May 3 at 7:35 p.m. against the Toronto Lynx at Bethel Park Stadium. For more information about tickets or official RIVERHOUNDS® merchandise, call 412-381-GOAL (4625) or visit www.riverhounds.com.
United Soccer League Championship Stories from March 14, 2003
- David Flavius Called Up To St. Lucia National Team - Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
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