‘I am confident that we will bring home the gold’ – Bernard
THE 23-member contingent that consists of the National Men’s U-17 football team and their technical staff will leave Guyana today en route to the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Men’s Under-17 Group Stage World Cup Qualifying Series in Dominica which will be played on July 20, 22 and 24 at the Windsor Park Stadium.
Over the decade of their participation in the Caribbean tournament the Guyana national team have made it as far as the second round of games but according to Carlos Bernard who is the team’s manager his expectations are nothing short of a good performance from the youngsters. He even ventured to say that they are well within contention for the gold medal.
“I expect this team to perform well, I am confident that we will bring home the gold,” Bernard said after disclosing that the fitness of the players is at an acceptable level.
He attributed this to their encampment for two and a half weeks prior to their departure and also to the fact that they are fresh out of competition in the recently concluded Inter-Association Tournament.
The team’s manager also revealed another factor in their favour which came in the form of corporate encouragement from Banks DIH, who donated equipment bags to the team and Geddes Grant Guyana Ltd who did their part by donating not only T-shirts but also multi-vitamins for the team’s nutritional sustainability.
The local team which consists of Mark Walton (captain), Romario Hughes, Kerwyn Benjamin, Pernell Schultz, Deshane Garnett, Dicquan Vancooten, Julius Griffith, Dominic Garnett, Jamal Booker, Rolex Martin, Mohamed Ali, Ashley Harding, Marlon Lashley, Emitt Leacock, Keson Dey, Nickel Fraser, Randy Persaud and Sherwin Lewis will first be in competition on July 22 when they square-off with the host nation Dominica and in their next encounter on July 24 they will be pitted against Aruba.
Accompanying the footballers will be their technical team that comprises Team-manager Carlos Bernard, Sampson Gilbert who is the coach, Lindley Langhorne who will function as the team’s physiotherapist/trainer and Lyndon France who is the Technical Development Officer.