Anguilla out on the Team

Anguilla (pronounced Ang-WHEEL-Ah) is one of the first on the list of FIFA’s 209 members according to alphabetical order. But in the world ranking, a list driven by the numeracy of results and intractable goals-for and against columns, the Caribbean island teeters in the shadows of ignominy, second-bottom globally ahead of only the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan.

“It means nothing to me,” their coach Richard Orlowski told FIFA.com about the country’s lowly rank of 208th. “We’ve had some bad luck in the past; there’s no denying. But now we play in the present. So whoever says that Anguilla doesn’t have a chance, I say to them: 'this is football and anything can happen'.”

The tiny island, at the northern edge of the Leeward Islands, is an earthly paradise. It sways to ancient and mythical maritime rhythms and exudes a seductive calm. But on the football pitch, Anguilla suffers. They have only a rag-tag amateur league to draw their national team and they famously lost 16-0 over two legs to El Salvador in qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™. Anguilla has, in fact, played only four qualifiers in their history, and they’ve lost them all by a combined score of 33-2.

Anguilla draws many well-heeled tourists to bask on its beaches and bobble in the crystal water of its bays. But Orlowski is a man on a mission. He’s accustomed to travel, but they are the hard kinds of miles. He is no tourist. He began life as Ryszard Orlowski and fled to Austria from his native Poland in 1984 to escape political repression, before being granted refugee status in the United States and establishing a home in New York City. He now lives in Pennsylvania and had a successful stint as assistant coach of Nepal a few years ago, helping the Himalayan side earn a famous win against India and climb a small stretch of the lower reaches of the world rankings.

Orlowski was a striker in his native Poland, playing for a succession of unheralded clubs like ZKS Gofabet and ZKS Piotrcovia-Piotrkow Tryb. And much like he did in Kathmandu, he has already got the locals in Anguilla on his side with a famous win, one a long time in the making. Since taking the reins in February, he presided over a pair of victories against British Virgin Islands and another against St Martin. These were the first wins for Anguilla in the space of 14 years and casual soccer fans on the island have taken notice.

“I want to make this a winning team by challenging the players to believe in themselves,” he said, his English still broken and revealing echoes of his native Poland.

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