Concacaf U-20 Championship USA 2018… Junior Jaguars endeavors to represent the nation with pride

Nov 05, 2018 Sports

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By Franklin Wilson in Florida, USA
Compliments of Industrial Safety Supplies,
Secure Innovation & Concepts and Fitness Express

National sportsmen and women should always be applauded whenever they are selected to represent the Land of Many Waters and the athletes too, in return must show that appreciation by giving it their all on the battle field.
The National Under-20 team here in Florida, representing at the historic Concacaf Under-20 Championship which is featuring all 34 affiliated Member Associations of the Confederation has endeavored to represent Guyana with pride since the players see this opportunity as a huge privilege and honour.
Kaieteur Sport took the opportunity yesterday before their practice session on Field #8 here at the IMG Academy, Bradenton, Florida to chat with six of the young talented Junior Jaguars on their experience thus far and how they see this opportunity to don national colours among the almost 680 players from 34 nations which represents the future of the Confederation.
Guyana’s Captain, the smart and composed Jeremy Garnett, who missed the opening match which the Jaguars lost 0-4 to Guatemala on Friday last due to College commitments at LSU of Alexandria in the USA, joined the team on Saturday night.
Jeremy was the first to chat with Kaieteur Sport on the importance of this competition and the joy of leading his fellow countrymen as a central defender but can also fit into the holding midfield role or wing back, if called upon.
”I haven’t played a game as yet but I am pleased to be a part of this programme. It’s an honour for me to represent my nation, it’s always an honour to wear the colours and I’m joyful to be among amongst these talented players and the coaching staff and will do my best.”
Garett noted that being the Captain of the team is a good achievement and does not look at the responsibility from a personal perspective.
”I basically understand it as a collective gesture for us and leading these guys is an honour as well and I’m going to lead to the best of my ability to ensure that we go in the right direction and help us get the victories.”
The astute leader also had some words for the Guyanese public at home and in the Diaspora: “All I want to tell the Guyanese public is to support us even when we have a bad day, don’t be bashing us on social media because if we have a good day you’re going to come and jump with us, you going to say thank you guys for the victory but, respect us and motivate us even when we don’t have a good day on the pitch.”
Goalkeeper Jonathan Vaughn who ply’s his trade with 1st Dezembro FC of Portugal and stood between the uprights in the first match said that it was also an honour for him to represent his mother’s country and wear the national colours, he said that so far it’s been a rough start having to gel and build chemistry with the team he is playing with for the first time.
”It’s also a completely new style of football, so I’m adjusting and adapting to it and hopefully by the next match we’ll be able to get better as a team. In the opening match, I think for the first 45 minutes we played well, we held them back. To be honest the Guatemalan side had 90% possession in the first half but the score did not reflect the game at all. I did make one error and I definitely could have done better on it but to reflect that error on the whole game is not just. But that said, we are looking forward to better matches ahead.”
Central midfielder Jalen Sewell-Case who plays with the Sir Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada acknowledged that the team did endure a rough opening match but is equally of the view that they can and will do better going forward.
”I still believe that we can come out on top if we work hard and apply ourselves in the correct way; it’s always an amazing experience and honour to represent Guyana and it’s a great experience to play against other players from around the world of different qualities and different skills set and it’s also a great way for us to learn and develop as a country.”
Sewell-Case, who also represented Guyana at the Under-17 level in the USVI two years ago, stated that it is wonderful to bring over that experience whilst it is also encouraging to learn and move forward.
”In the next three matches I’m looking to build off of our knowledge garnered from the first game and hopefully perform better and come out with three wins.”
Central defender Lionel Holder who competes for Santos FC in Guyana expressed gratitude for the opportunity of playing for his homeland, pointing out that this is the first time he is reached this far.
”We have used the Guatemala match as an eye opener and will progress from that match. The experience we got from that match will help us in the next match; we know where we have to step up our game and will come out better, we’ve been putting in the work and I am looking forward for victories in the next game because I know we can do it.”
Bolton Wanderers’(England) Kwai Marsh-Brown is one of the defenders in the team and was quick to point out that the tournament is an exciting one to date for him and an honour for him to be representing his mother’s country.
”I think we have learnt a lot from the first game when it comes to keeping possession, structure of the team, balance within the defence and midfield. What we have been learning in the training sessions would be reflected in the next game that is coming.
We’ve come together as a team and we’ve pointed out the faults that happened in the first game and we know that in ourselves as boys and as men we can’t let that happen again. We let the team and coaches down in the first game by letting them get the first goal just before half time, if that had not gone in it would have been a completely different game, we would have felt more confident going into the second half and we would have gone out and try to go forward a bit more but that goal changed the game dynamics.”
Fruta Conquerors defender Cecil Jackman shared that even though the team lost the game, himself and colleagues would rebound going forward citing that they will continue to work hard as a team to do well for themselves and country.
Guyana will play its second of four matches in Group F tomorrow against the Cayman Islands from 10:30hrs on Field #2 at the IMG Soccer Complex. Yesterday afternoon, Guatemala defeated Curacao 3-1. It was the second loss for Curacao who had lost to El Salvador 1-2 on Saturday. Also yesterday in the late game El Salvador defeated Cayman Islands 3-1 for their second win in the tournament.

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