HE’s said to be Guyana’s most successful captain at the World Cup qualifiers and once again, Head Coach Jamaal Shabazz has handed the ‘Captain’s band’ to Christopher Ronald Nurse to lead Guyana against St Vincent and the Grenadines in their June 10 and 14 home and way matches for the 2018 Russia qualifiers.The 31 year-old Nurse has written his name in the history books by being the only Guyana World Cup Captain to score a goal in a qualifier and is the only Captain with four qualifier wins.

In a change to previous qualification tournaments, CONCACAF decided that the first three rounds will be played as knockout rounds, with both the fourth round and the final round (referred to as ‘The Hexagonal’) played as group stages.

Of the team that played in the 2014 qualifier that reached the penultimate round, Nurse, Ricky Shakes, goalkeeper Derrick Carter, Vurlon Mills, Collin Nelson, Trayon Bobb, and Dwayne Jacobs are the only returning players with Shabazz crafting a younger side.

Former Fulham FC defender Matthew Briggs, Bolton Wanderers’ midfield maestro Neil Danns, Leicester FC’s Marcel Barrington and Real Monarchs’ Emery Welshman are among the 30 man squad in training and Nurse believes that though the team is lacking the experience as compared to the previous World Cup qualifier’s squad, they are talented bunch of players.

Speaking exclusively to Chronicle Sport recently, the Carolina Railhawks player reflected on the services of former Stoke City and Hull City defender Leon Cort and his brother Carl who played at English Premier League sides New Castle and Leicester along with Charles ‘Lilly’ Pollard and Kayode McKinnon, but quickly pointed out that the team this time around is younger and filled with exciting players.

“We know that as a team, talent wise we can probably match any team in the Caribbean region but we just need to be discipline, to be organised and we need to play smart and execute our plan. Even though we lack the experience, the new guys that have came in bring a little bit more energy and it’s an exciting tournament for them as well; it’s something new for them as well, ” Nurse said.
Looking ahead to the St Vincent and the Grenadines clash, Nurse opined that “obviously we have to realise that it’s a home and away term now, so we have to be able to play smart in both games.
It’s not going to be gun-for-gun in each game, there’s going to be periods where we’ll have to play smart, especially if we have an away goal and we’re coming to the end of the game in St Vincent, you know that away goal is crucial, so as a team we’ll have to protect that goal” .

Guyana National Football Team has contested 28 World Cup qualifiers since 1976. The National Team won its inaugural World Cup match 2-1 against Suriname at GCC Bourda, July 4, 1976 and defeated Grenada 5-2 at GCC in March of 1980 and 3-2 in the return fixture in April in St. George’s.

The next time Guyana tasted World Victory was 31 years later when the Christopher Nurse led Jaguars defeated Barbados 2 – 0 at the Providence National Stadium August, 2011.
Please find below Guyana’s World Cup Captains since 1976:
Maurice Enmore 1976 – Santos
Earl O’Neal 1980 – Thomas United
Gordon Brathwaite 1984 – Western Tigers
Deon Barnwell 1988 – Thomas United
Andrew Grogan 1988 – Santos
Ewart Grenville 1992 – Police
Anthony Stanton 1996 – Western Tigers
Shawn Beveney 2004 – Western Tigers
Charles Pollard 2008 – Net Rockers
Christopher Nurse 2011- Carolina Railhawks

By Rawle Toney