… to depart on January 19 for Cuba

By Rawle Toney
GUYANA’S National Futsal team will be encamped this week as the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) heightens preparations for the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Futsal tournament, to be held January 22-26 in Cuba.While the GFF is yet to announce the team selected for the encampment, sources close to the Federation and the team, stated that the group will depart Guyana on Tuesday, January 19.
Approximately 30 players had gathered at the National Gymnasium for the three-day trials, conducted by Technical Director Claude Bolton, who was assisted by former men’s National team head coach Denzil Thompson.
Bolton, who also served as head coach for Canada’s National Futsal team, explained that the squad will now be trimmed to between 16 and 18 players.
Guyana will be placed in Group ‘A’ with Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda and Haiti, while in Group ‘B’, hosts Cuba will be joined by St Maarten, Costa Rica and Guadeloupe.
The top two teams from the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) tournament will advance to the CONCACAF Futsal Championship 2016 which will be held in Costa Rica in May.
Same as previous editions, the CFU Futsal tournament acts as the CONCACAF qualifiers for the FIFA Futsal World Cup. The top four teams of the tournament will qualify for the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup in Colombia as the CONCACAF representatives.
Guyana last participated at the CFU Futsal Tournament in 2008, finishing fourth behind winners and hosts Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti (second place) and Suriname (third place).