With just 10 days before Guyana faces one of its biggest matches ever and possibly enable itself to qualify for the Concacaf Gold Cup, the Guyana National Senior Men’s Team, is set to play the Suriname Senior Men’s National team on Saturday (March 16) at the Pierkhan Stadium, Nickerie, Suriname, from 16:30h or 15:30h (local time).
The team, commonly known as the Golden Jaguars, will comprise a shortlisted 18-man Guyana-based players and is scheduled to depart for Suriname on Friday morning.
In an invited comment, Golden Jaguars’ Head Coach Michael Johnson, who returned to Guyana this week, said the match will seek to test the progress made with team preparation and some technical areas as well as the team’s overall game understanding.
“The game against Suriname will give the players a real stiff test and we will be able to see which players have improved in all areas of their development. The GFF Training Centre is a solid base that allows us to get some good work into the players, but you can’t be competitive without games. With both teams involved in the Concacaf Nation’s League fixtures, this gives us the opportunity to try out player systems and develop their understanding without the scrutiny of the result being the main objective.”
A detailed squad will be made available soonest. Meanwhile, the Guyana-based squad engaged the East Bank Demerara Football Association select team last Saturday in a training match at the GFF’s National Training Centre, Providence. Guyana-based Assistant Coach Charles Pollard, in an invited comment, said there were a lot of positives taken away.
“We were working on possession from the last game (against Fruta Conquerors FC); from keeping possession to converting our chances. In the weekend game, the guys did well despite the opposition was not as strong as expected. We looked at our moments, the decision making and converting the chances; those were a plus, we were spot on in that regard.”
The training matches are part of the preparation for Guyana’s final Concacaf Nations League qualifier against Belize on March 23 at the National Track and Field Centre, Leonora.
Tickets for the match are being sold at G$1,500 at the following locations: Andrew’s Supermarket – Aubrey Barker Road, South Ruimveldt, The Guinness Bar – Durban Street, GT; West Indian Sports Complex, Robb Street; Nice Restaurante, Status Hotel, Croal Street, GT; Pegasus Hotel Guyana; KFC Outlets – Regent Street & Mandela Avenue; Dad’s Fish Shop (Den Amstel) and Patsy Food Court and Bar, Linden Soesdyke Junction.
Fan jerseys are also available at the GFF Secretariat at a cost of G$5,000. Match time is 18:30h. (An official GFF Release)
