On Saturday, November 23rd, a major upset occurred at Marshalleck Stadium in Benque Viejo del Carmen, as the San Pedro Pirates Football Club defeated Verdes FC 3-2. This win secures the Pirates’ place in the Premier League of Belize (PLB) finals for the 2024-2025 opening season. With this victory, the island team triumphed over Verdes with a 4-3 aggregate score, eliminating one of the strongest teams in the PLB from the finals. The first leg of the finals will take place on Saturday, November 30th at 7:30PM at San Pedro’s Ambergris Stadium.
The thrilling game began at 7:30PM in a stadium filled with fans. In the 19th minute, an auto goal by Verdes’ Darrel Myvett gave the San Pedro Pirates an early lead. Verdes attempted to go on the offensive as the match progressed but struggled to break through the Pirates’ defense. The score widened in favor of the island team when, in the 36th minute, Aldin Forman scored San Pedro’s second goal. By the end of the first half, San Pedro comfortably led with a score of 2-0.
In the early minutes of the second half, Nahjib Guerra of Verdes managed to break through and scored the first goal for his team in the 58th minute. The match continued with the Pirates leading 2-1 for the rest of the 90 minutes. As the island team awaited the final whistle, Verdes surprised everyone by tying the game in the first minute of injury time. The stadium erupted with cheers as the home team turned things around. However, the island squad responded by raising their level of play and, in the fifth minute of injury time, scored a third goal through a strategic play by Moises Hernandez.
After the match, the island team was escorted by police for their safety. However, a confrontation occurred outside the stadium, during which one of the Pirates’ players, Foreman, was attacked. The San Pedro Pirates management denounced this behavior and urged the authorities to act against such violence. The Premier League of Belize (PLB) has not commented on the incident.
The other team advancing to the finals is the current champion, Port Layola. The Belize City team defeated Progresso 2-1 on Sunday, November 24th, at the Marion Jones Stadium.
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