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Golden Jaguars commence final phase preparation for FIFA WCQ
– Fitness evaluation held at Leonora Football field yesterday
By Franklin Wilson
There will be no room for complacency when the Second Round of World Cup (Russia 2018) qualifying in the CONCACAF Confederation kicks off on Sunday June 7 next.
The Golden Jaguars and the U23s being supervised by Head Coach Jamaal Shabazz during yesterday’s fitness evaluation at the Leonora Football Field.
Guyana will lock horns with St. Vincent and the Grenadines on June 10 from 15:30hrs at the Arnos Vale Playing Field and four days later the return game is slated for the Guyana National Stadium, Providence from 19:00hrs.
In an effort to ensure that the Golden Jaguars are best prepared for the task at hand, the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) released the names of a star studded squad, a mix of local based and overseas based players which commenced the final phase of training yesterday at the Leonora Football Field.
Head Coach Jamaal Shabazz speaking with the media informed that yesterday’s activity was a fitness evaluation which is known as the ‘zero check’ which saw the players playing for 15 minutes rested for 2 minutes before continuing the routine.
He said the players, which were competing against the National Under-23 side preparing for their Olympic Qualifiers did not do too badly at all given the intensity of the session.
“In a couple days time we’ll have the full squad and we are looking for them to compete for places in the team nobody is going to be handed a position on a platter. So far I think they are all committed to that; you know with 30 players in the squad and you only can select 20 to go on the trip and 23 for the game home it’s going to be interesting competition.”
Shabazz posited the view that such a situation can only augur well for the team since it will not just be the talent of players that would get them in the final team.
Guyana has played a total of four warm up matches so far through the efforts of the FIFA appointed Normalisation Committee. The Golden Jaguars drew 2-2 with Barbados in the Land of the ‘Flying Fish’ before recording respective 2-0 wins over St. Lucia and Grenada at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.
The Guyanese were edged 1-0 by home team Suriname in the final warm up game having been reduced to 10 players from the 12th minute.
“In those four matches we were able to see a good number of players, only one player started in all four matches and that’s good for us because we’ve had five or six changes to each team. So all in all we’ve seen about 33 to 34 players including seven Under-23s so I’m pretty satisfied with the effort made to get us playing matches.”
Commenting on the staff handling two teams (Seniors & U23s), Shabazz said they’ve had to bring in experienced coach Joseph ‘Bill’ Wilson to assist along with Frank ‘English’ Parris who assists from the managerial end.
“We are also bringing in Coach Stan Harmon to help, but this is our work, this is our life. Football is our life, I wish we had three teams; we want to work every time and be on the pitch, this is what we do. We are happy for the work and try our best to get the success.”
The GFF’s star studded squad is headlined by Guyana’s most successful Captain Christopher Nurse and also include the likes of Matthew Briggs, Neil Danns, Emery Welshman, Brandon Beresford Trayon Bobb and Pernell Schultz.
The GFF has also informed that Kadell Daniel of Charlton Athletic will be joining the Under-23 team shortly. Most of the overseas based players were expected to start arriving last evening. Beresford and the Whyte brothers are already in Guyana and trained yesterday at Leonora.
Full squad: Goalkeepers – Akel Clare (Central FC), Derrick Carter (Western Tigers FC), Anthony Whyte (University), Matthew Allick (UK based).
Defenders: Jamaal Smith (Alpha United FC) , Matthew Briggs (Millwall FC), Joshua Brown (Slingerz FC), Kris Camacho (Alpha United FC), King Solomon Austin (Slingerz FC), Colin Nelson (Slingerz FC), Adrian Butters (Toronto FC), Daniel Whyte (University), Walter Moore (FF Jaro FC).
Midfielders: Dwayne Jacobs (Slingerz FC), Neil Danns (Bolton Wanderers FC), Clive Nobrega Slingerz FC), Daniel Wilson (Alpha United FC), Eon Alleyne (Fruta Conquerors FC), Kanata Mannings (Pele FC), Vurlon Mills (Slingerz FC), Brandon Beresford (Graceland University), Christopher Nurse (Carolina Railhawks FC), Ricky Shakes (Boreham Wood FC), Trayon Bobb (Caledonia AIA FC).
Forwards: Emery Welshman (Real Salt Lake FC), Marcel Barrington (Leicester City FC), Pernel Schultz (Caledonia AIA FC), Kevin Beaton (University), Sheldon Holder (Alpha United FC).
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