McCaulay: I'm very proud to have tied Suarez and Van Persie - Hamara Watan Sports National and international

Deon McCaulay discusses finishing as the joint-top scorer in Brazil 2014 qualifying alongside Luis Suarez and Robin van Persie and Belize’s current form.

Deon McCaulay scored 11 goals in eight matches in Brazil 2014 qualifying
He finished level with Luis Suarez and Robin van Persie as the top scorers
McCaulay discusses that achievement and Belize’s current form

The race is on to see which players finish as the top scorer in their respective confederations during FIFA World Cup 26™ qualifying. Within that, there is another chase for men hoping to emerge as number one worldwide.

During qualifying for Brazil 2014, two very familiar names found themselves at the top of the worldwide scoring chart in Uruguay’s Luis Suarez and Robin van Persie of the Netherlands, with 11 goals each. But a third player from a country that had never qualified for a World Cup joined them: Belize striker Deon McCaulay.

In just eight matches with the Central American nation – one fewer than Van Persie’s nine and six fewer than Suarez’s 14 in that span – McCaulay netted a whopping 11 goals. The all-time top scorer for Belize with 28 goals, the 37-year-old McCaulay took a stroll down memory lane with FIFA to revisit that magical run when he stood shoulder to shoulder with two of the game’s best marksmen.

FIFA: When you think about World Cup qualifying, what comes to mind?

Deon McCaulay: It’s always fun to play World Cup qualifying. There was one time that the World Cup trophy actually made its way to Belize [in 2013] and I got to see it. It was very exciting for me because it was the first time I had an experience like that, got to see the World Cup trophy in front of me. And going out on the field, representing your country and trying to at least qualify to play and win that trophy, you realise that you and all the big players in the world like Pele and Maradona have done that too.

Your goalscoring mark in qualifying for Brazil 2014 came at a time when Belize enjoyed their best moment internationally with a Gold Cup qualification. What made that group so strong?

We had a good coach [Chelato Ucles] and I think everything just balanced really well for us. At that time, I was at the peak of my career and I was focused and determined. We had a group of six or seven players that were playing outside of Belize at the time, so that helped us a lot to have that experience and put it together on a field.

What did Chelato mean to you?

God bless his soul. He was one of the coaches that really inspired the players, and we really wanted to play for him because of all the experience he had. He opened doors for us in Honduras so that we could play professionally outside the country. We’re never going to forget him because he did something special for us.

You started qualifying with four goals in two games against Montserrat. Did you feel like something special was brewing?

After the first two games, I thought that if I could that, I could probably do the same in all the games! (laughs) I’ve been scoring goals all my life, so it was definitely a big challenge going into the national team and trying to do the same. After those two games against Montserrat, my mindset got stronger. I start working harder and everything just flowed after that.

In the next round you played Guatemala, Grenada and St. Vincent & the Grenadines and you had seven goals in six games. Have you ever felt anything like that in your career?

One thing that I always try to be is consistent, because I know consistency goes a long way. I just said, you know what, we’re from Belize, we’re a small country and we’re not going to get a lot of opportunities to score. I set my mind that if I got one opportunity to score, I’d try to score it. Or if I get two, I’ll just try to do 50 percent. After every game, I didn’t dwell on it. I just kept going.

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When World Cup qualifying ended for everyone, did you know that you had finished as the joint-top scorer with Luis Suarez and Robin van Persie?

I didn’t realise it at all, honestly. I wasn’t really counting the goals. I think it was on social media that I saw it first, me with 11 goals… and I was with Luis Suarez and Robin Van Persie. At first, I thought no way that was possible, but then it all sank in. I don’t think even the people of Belize or even my team-mates realised what happened.

What does it mean to you that you stood shoulder to shoulder with those two great strikers?

On a personal level, I think it’s something amazing. I take a lot of pride in it because it was a moment in my career that I will never forget. I will never forget that my I made my family proud. I made my country proud and I made my team-mates proud. It did a lot for me personally.

Are you officially retired from the Belize national team or could you still see yourself playing again?

My last games with the national team [in 2022] weren’t that great. I don’t know if I’m still in the mix or not, but right now I’m not really focused on playing that much anymore, even though I know I can still do it. I think maybe it’s time to give somebody else a chance, somebody else that’s younger than me who wants to accomplish the same things that I accomplished in my career. It would have been nice to try to mentor the young players, but I don’t know what the mindset is of the federation in that regard.

Belize are off to a rough start in qualifying for 2026 with two defeats in two matches, but just won their Nations League group in League C. What’s your assessment of the national team?

We had to take a step back and drop into a lower league so that we could move forward and play the way that we know to play. It’s not the ideal situation, but for us, I think we needed to realise that we could actually compete with some of these teams and could actually play good soccer. I’ve watched a couple of the games so far and I was really impressed with the way they were playing, moving the ball and controlling the game.