– Dover optimistic of success against MLS side Portland Timbers
With just five more days before their second game in the 2014/15 CONCACAF Champions League against Major League Soccer (MLS) side Portland Timbers, Guyana’s Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United is hoping for better crowd support.
The Guyanese top club will face the MLS side on Tuesday August 19 at the Guyana National Stadium in an historic encounter, since it marks the first time a topflight American club will be gracing these shores.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday at the Water Chris Hotel in Georgetown, president of the Alpha United club Odinga Lumumba said that with all that’s happening presently in Guyana, with regards to football, supporting his club is the least the public could do to show that all is not lost and that the people have not forgotten about the sport.
Lumumba’s club fell 1 – 0 to former CONCACAF Champions League winner and Honduras’ most decorated club Olimpia Deportivo at the National Stadium on the opening night of the tournament; a result the club’s President said he’s satisfied with.
“it’s always going to be a David versus Goliath when Alpha United play in the Champions League” Lumumba said, speaking in context that both of his teams’ opponents (Olimpia Deportivo and Portland Timbers) are full bloom professional clubs, constantly playing at the highest level, in contrast to Alpha United who plays in a ‘sometimeish’ domestic/amateur league.
Alpha United is considered as Guyana’s most celebrated club in the country’s rich football history and according to Lumumba, despite playing at an amateur level since the club was formed just over a decade ago, they have been able to gain significant success, even playing against teams who are professionals.
Speaking to a room full of sport journalists, Lumumba recounted his club’s journey to the Champions League where they topped their grouped which consisted of Jamaica’s Water House FC and Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force.
“Unless you have strong clubs will never move forward,” said Lumumba.
Lumumba who’s also the chief financier for Alpha United was able to gather some of the best players from Panama, Brazil, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and Jamaica to blend with some of Guyana’s top players to form what he hopes is a team that will see Alpha United (his team) heading to the FIFA Club World Cup.
Meanwhile, Alpha United Coach Wayne ‘Wiggy’ Dover said that he’s optimistic of his team changing the fortune of their previous game in the tournament.
Questioned on what’s the difference between playing the Honduras club to that of the Portland Timber, Dover said “the Spanish teams play a more position football and try to build an attack after keeping the ball for long periods, while the MLS team plays very much like Caribbean teams.”
Dover made the pronouncement after noting that he has been able to watch the Portland Timber in action in the MLS, adding “Yes, I feel a bit more comfortable and it will be easier tactically to play against a team that is similar to how you play”.
Alpha United were guilty of squandering easy goal scoring opportunities and Dover said that his team have placed most of their emphasis on finishing.
(By Rawle Toney)
