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Nat Footballers to leave for CONCACAF U17 qualifiers
Coach Mills confident Guyana will advance to next round
By Sean Devers
Kaieteur News – Guyana’s 20-man Under-17 Footballers are scheduled to depart for Suriname and should arrive in Florida on Monday a day before the 2022 Concacaf Men’s Under-17 Championship Qualifiers kicks off in the sunshine state
The U17s will depart Guyana on Saturday for Florida. (Sean Devers photo)
Twenty-two teams will be hoping to land one of the four coveted places in the 2023 Concacaf Men’s Under-17 Championship.
The 22 teams were split among four groups following the results of last June’s Draw.
Guyana are in Group A along with Bermuda, Bahamas, Bonaire, Saint Martin, British Virgin Islands.
The CMU17Q will consist of a round robin group stage played August 30 – September 8, with the four group winners advancing to the 2023 CMU17 Championship where they will join the top 16 ranked nations that have been seeded directly into the group stage.
Guyana’s 25-man Squad, which includes two Canadians and a player from the USA, will be trimmed down to 20 and was expected to be announced yesterday.
The last of the six practice matches was held Wednesday against the GDF First Division team at GFF Training Facility where the Squad was encamped for past five-weeks.
Wednesday afternoon, in sunny conditions on an excellently laid artificial turf where international Football (except Men’s World Cup Could be played), the National U17s were very competitive against much older opposition and the practice match served its purpose with U-17 Goolie Dequan Samuels looking very impressive between the Uprights.
National U17 Goal Keeper Dequan Samuels looked very impressive during the Team’s practice match.
After playing five games in Florida, the top team will advance to the next round in Guatemala next February.
Apart from the practice games, the players were exposed to training sessions, which included stamina and strength work, ball skills and strategy sessions held between 8 and 10 in the mornings.
Head Coach and former Golden Jaguars international and Fruta Conquerors talisman, Vurlon Mills expressed satisfaction with the five weeks of preparation.
“I am pretty confident that we can move to the next stage once the Guys play their best Football in Florida. The strength of the team I would say is the mid-field.
We also have a very good Keeper and very capable defenders,” added the 34-year-old.
Head Coach Vurlon Mills with some of his players. (Sean Devers photo)
Coach Mills made his senior debut against the Soca Warriors of Trinidad and Tobago in 2010 and represented Guyana in several FIFA World Cup Qualifiers as well as Caribbean and Gold Cup Qualifiers during his playing career which spanned 33 caps.
The former San Juan Jabloteh player recorded 14 goals in Guyanese colours.
He singled out Strikers Omar Sam and Matthew Martin as players to watch and confirmed that everyone has their Visas and were fully vaccinated.
It will be hot in Florida and Mills whose final match was in 2019 against the Reggae Boyz of Jamaica, said that it will be important to manage the players carefully.
Guyana begin their campaign against Bonaire on August 30 before playing against the Bahamas on September 1.
They then oppose St Martin on September 3 before facing the British Virgin Islands on September 5 with their final game against Bermuda on September 7.
The team reads: Dequain Samuels, Shakem Welcome, Swade Edwards, Gerry Burnette, Krishtian Louis, Seon Cato, Jaden Bascom, Kvist Paul, Omar Sam, Noah Kisson, Matrim Martin, Ronaldo Adams, Antwone Denny, Andre Nelson, Bryan Wharton, Brandon Khedoo, Shemaiah Samuels, Reegan Lewis, Christopher Whitter and Herman Gill.
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