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Crowd support vital for ‘Jaguars’ : Surinamese crowd was intimidating – Shabazz
By Franklin Wilson
Crowd support for Sunday’s return game between Guyana and Suriname is very important for the ‘Golden Jaguars’. So says Technical Director of the Guyana Football Federation, Jamaal Shabazz in an interview with Kaieteur Sport.
Tickets for the match venue, the Andre Kamperveen Stadium were sold out on Saturday morning when a group of Guyanese fans turned up to purchase after arriving in Suriname on Friday evening.
According to Shabazz, it was not only the packed nature of the venue that was critical, but the involvement of the crowd was intimidating and forceful.
“They certainly displayed what it means to be a 12th man. This made the game more difficult because you could have seen the opponents being spurred on by their people even when they made mistakes they received encouraging words and applause.”
He expressed the view that if we are able to spur on and get behind our team is very important in Sunday’s return game set for the Providence National Stadium, kicking off at 15:30hrs.
“Being able to full the stadium is critical. World Cup football is not about a team qualifying for the next round; it’s about a country qualifying for the next round. It’s a big difference between a team and a country.
A team is 18 players, the Golden Jaguars is a country, its Guyana, and the sooner people appreciate that we are on our way to great things as a nation.”
Shabazz, who is very passionate about the game, said that this is not about the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) or anybody in the GFF but about supporting the country which would make us better as a nation.
“I would like to see everybody wear gold or yellow on Sunday and let the team hear their voices before, during and after the game. I would also like to see and hear the fans develop lots of chants and phrases of encouragement. Come out and really give that support to the team let Suriname know that they are in Guyana. The players will take care of business on the field.”
Shabazz said that he is confident that one goal is not enough to keep Guyana out of the second round noting that the Jaguars have a formidable strike force and they intend to work feverishly to improve on some of the short comings in the last game.
“This is life, sometimes in a battle, you want the victory to come easy but sometimes God wants you to work hard for the victory and for us the preparations has been a battle and the games are no different and we are up to the task. I just hope that the rest of Guyana is as eager as us for this game on Sunday.
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