Golden Jaguars face the mighty Guatemalans tonight in Int’l Friendly
GUYANA’S National football team, the Golden Jaguars, will experience one of their toughest encounters ahead of the third round of the 2014 World Cup Qualifiers when they oppose the mighty Guatemalan team tonight at the Guyana National Stadium.
The two teams will lock horns from 20:00hrs in the FIFA-sanctioned International Friendly which is expected to be an intriguing battle.
Nicknamed ‘La Azul y Blanco’ (blue and white) and playing out of the North, Central American and Caribbean Zone of the World Cup Qualifiers, they are yet to taste defeat as they won all six of their matches to comfortably make it to round three in Group A with USA, Jamaica and Antigua and Barbuda.
However, the Guatemalan team lost 2-1 to Paraguay exactly one week ago in Paraguay where their lone scorer was Carlos Ruíz. Paraguay, Guatemala and Guyana are 27th, 84th and 92nd on the FIFA ranking; Guyana have progressed 24 spaces in the ranking since their 2014 World Cup Qualifier runs.
According to the head coach of the side, Ever Hugo Almeida, Ruíz would not be present to participate in the match against the Jaguars.
Recapping on the match, he said: “Paraguay is a very good team; there is no excuse for the lost. This is a team that made it to the World Cup several times and the fact we were able to hold them to a 2-1 game meant a lot.”
They still boast the likes of midfielders Marco Papa and Guillermo Ramirez along with defenders Gustavo Cabrera and Carlos Gallardo.
During the press briefing held at the office of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) yesterday, Almeida stated that even though these players have special skills, every player has his own role to fulfil because what is important is that they play as a team.
The head coach added that Guatemala is here to win as any team that plays football. “No one just goes into a match and plays for the sake of it. We are here to win so this match will help in the preparation of the tough road that lies ahead.”
On the other side of the boat, Jaguars head coach, Jamaal Shabazz, guaranteed the Guatemalans that they are in for a tough battle, come game time.
Shabazz said: “Guyana is a ‘David’ in a circle of ‘Goliaths’ with teams like Guatemala, Costa Rica and Mexico, and we are happy that we have this opportunity to play a role as David very early in our preparing for the third round of the World Cup Qualifiers.”
“This will give us the opportunity to know where we are on such a stage and what we have to work towards to be better. I’m happy with how the young players have been performing and also happy that we have some of the older guys back in the squad to share their experience,” he said.
Guyana captain Christopher Nurse stated that his boys are very confident and prepared to make Guyana proud and do the best they can.
He went on to say that the training has been tough since the players are all battling to maintain their spot in the team as it progresses.

Guyana team: Chris Nurse (captain), Jake Newton, Ricky Shakes Shawn Beveney, Richard Reynolds, Kester Jacobs, Anthony Abrams, Konata Mannings, Gregory Richardson, Anthony Benfield, Travis Grant, Sheldon Holder, Walter Moore, Trayon Bobb, Colin Nelson, Kayode McKinnon, Charles Pollard, Ronson Williams, John Rodrigues and Taylor Benjamin.

Guatemala team: Guillermo Ramirez (captain), Ricardo Jerez, Dagoberto Arriola, Yony Flores, Carlos Gallardo, Gustavo Cabrera, Elias E. Vasquez, Pedro J. Samayoa, Henry Lopez, Mario Rodriguez, Paulo Ceasar Motta, Kristian Guzman, Jose M. Contreras, Manuel Leon, Marco Papa, Dwight Pezzarossi, Bryan Ordóñez, Selvin Motta, Mynor Ignacio Lopez, Jonathan Lopez.
Fans are reminded that tickets for the match cost $1 500 and can be purchased at Ashmin’s while children under the age of 12 will be admitted free. The GFF is urging Guyanese to support by wearing yellow to support the Golden Jaguars.