… looking forward to winning tonight
NATIONAL coach Collie Hercules, prior to their clash against Barbados on Friday, was adamant that his side will come out victorious and the players didn’t let their coach’s word fall by the wayside, as they overcame the visitors 1-0 at the Mackenzie Sports Club Ground in Linden.
Captain Christopher Bourne scored a beautiful goal from his corner kick, taken in the 86th minute of the heated affair, as the Guyanese now head into tonight’s game at the Guyana National Stadium, brimming with confidence. Hercules is now looking to close off the two-game International Friendly on a winning note.
Both countries see the matches as a major part of their preparations for the Olympic qualifiers, with Guyana drawn in Group C with Aruba, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Matches are set for June 21 – 29.
The former national striker, known as the ‘Hitman’, told Chronicle Sport after the game in Linden that he was more than pleased with his team’s performance, especially given the amount of time they had to prepare.
“For the little time that we (have) been together, I saw good things but obviously we got a lot of work to do; but I have to give credit to the guys for playing really hard, trying to do the things that we were working on, and we came out with the victory,” said Hercules.
The Olympic qualifier is an Under-23 tournament and the Guyana team is predominantly made up of such players with Hercules adding a few seniors into the mix to strike a balance to the side.
Reflecting on the game, Hercules said that “we had a mixture tonight (Friday); we had a couple of overseas players but for now we are trying to get all the players (Under-23) that we have outside because we have to tighten up in some departments and that’s important at the moment,”.
Tonight Barbados would want to avenge their loss to Guyana but Hercules is hoping to come out on top, which he knows will be a good boost for the team’s morale as they intensify preparations for their engagement next month.
“Winning on Sunday (today) will do a lot for our confidence going forward. There’s nothing compared to an actual game because it puts us (coaching staff) and the players in a better position to be looked at and come up with plans on how we can strengthen our weakness,” said the National coach.
Hercules added that “we are very thankful for Barbados coming down here because I know we all are preparing for the same event. But they would want to win as well, which will make things pretty interesting and add a little more excitement to the game.
But we are ready for the challenge, like I said, it will do us good, especially the coaches cause we would like to know our guys can play under pressure.”
Tonight’s game is set for a 19:00hrs kick-off.