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May 31, 2021 Sports

New ‘Golden Jaguar’ Captain Matthew Briggs speaking with his colleagues after being announced as Captain yesterday. (Franklin Wilson photo)
Kaieteur News –
By Franklin Wilson in Antigua 7 Barbuda compliments of the GFF and Industrial Safety Supplies Inc.
A veteran of fourteen national caps for the ‘Golden Jaguars’, defender Matthews Briggs was yesterday announced as the new Captain of Guyana’s Senior Men’s National Team, the nation’s flagship team.
Head Coach Márcio Máximo made the announcement during an important team meeting yesterday to loud applause from his teammates, Technical and Management staff.
Briggs, who ply his trade with Danish Professional side VejleBoldklub aka ‘The Reds’ or ‘Ruby of Jutland’, expressed great delight at being given the honour of leading his nation at a time when a new chapter is being written.
“I’m honoured to accept the captaincy, I’ve been playing for Guyana a couple of years now and it has always been a dream of mine to be Captain of a national team; so I’m finally excited to get this journey started and to see what the future holds.”
Briggs has replaced Sam Cox who took on the role in June 2016, the last game he wore the Captain’s armband was against the Bahamas in March when Guyana won 4-0.
With Guyana chasing qualification for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and in a must win situation for their two remaining matches in this Concacaf qualifying window, Captain Briggs stated confidently that his charges are focused on the matches ahead and will be giving 110% effort which they are capable of and have the full capabilities so to do.
Touching a bit on the Antigua encampment so far, Briggs posited that there is a high level of excitement amongst the players.
“I was speaking to a few of the boys and they were all itching to get on the ball since Saturday when they arrived but we had a long days travel so it’s all about recovery and rest.”
The tall defender also shared a bit on the last two matches played in March in the Dominican Republic.
“We didn’t perform to our full potential which was disappointing for us, so we’re excited to get into these two games now and put that right.”
And just what would be the ideal situation for the team post the next two matches against St’ Kitts and Nevis on June 4th and Puerto Rico on June 8th, Briggs commented: “I think to win both games, I mean, I look at both these games and I think we’re favourites to win them. I think we’ll be the better team and we’ve got more than enough quality to win both these games.”
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