Guyana has been given a Gold Cup lifeline after Concacaf ruled against Barbados fielding two ineligible players for their September 2018 clash in the Nations League.
On Thursday, Concacaf announced itsruling, which meant Guyana’s Golden Jaguars were awarded the win, whichincreases the country’s chances of qualifying for the Gold Cup for the first time.
Head Coach Michael Johnson said: “We acknowledge the strength and conviction of the governing bodies to uphold the integrity and the honesty in which the game demands. We now look forward to the game in March which should be a wonderful celebration for the country as we strive to make history. Simple win and we are there in the Gold Cup.”
Following the ruling, Guyana jumped up to eighth spot on the points table. The top 10 teams will qualify for the Gold Cup. Guyana’s fourth and final qualifier is against Belize at the National Track and Field Centre, Leonora, on March 23, 2019.
Technical Director of the Guyana Football Federation, Ian Greenwood, on Friday afternoon reacted to the news during an exclusive interview with News Room’s Avenash Ramzan.
What the decision means for the Golden Jaguars: “It’s a massive boost. It gives us a real opportunity to get into the Gold Cup now. It’s taken a little bit of time to come together; we were obviously aware of the situation after the game, putting all the relevant documentations for the appeal, so we were playing a bit of a waiting game. But I think what it really gives to us is a real massive lift, because now we’re in the best position possible to be able to qualify for Guyana’s first-ever Gold Cup.”
Players reaction: “I think for the players themselves, we’ve had a couple of games where we’ve not performed as well as we could have done, so it has really put us in a positive footing going into the final game. All the players themselves are over the moon with the situation; we’re on the phone all the time with (Samuel) Cox, (Neil) Danns, Emery (Welshman), so everybody is fully on board and knows it’s in our hands now and that one victory will take us into the Gold Cup.”
Head Coach Michael Johnson “over the moon”: “We’re obviously in contact with Coach Johnson alot; he’s obviously over the moon as well, because as the Coach he’s ultimately responsible for the national team performances and we’ve had a couple of performances which haven’t been what we expected. But, this is a second chance so the Coach is really happy with the situation. We were looking to go into the final game on six points, (it) was a clear of us. I think everybody is now focusing on what needs to be done for the upcoming March game.”
Areas of improvement going forward: “I think we’ve been a little bit weak at the back. I think organisationally across the back four in a couple of games we haven’t been very solid- that is a key area we need to look at. I think individually, in some of our performances, especially in and around the box, we could have been a lot tighter to the opposition, we could have been a little more organised. So it’s out defensive third that we need a lot of work going into the final game.”
READ THE CONCACAF RELEASE: https://newsroom.gy/2018/12/06/guyana-awarded-nations-league-match-after-concacaf-sanctions-barbados/
