BOGOTA, Colombia – Guyana’s Golden Jaguars bounced back from their opening 7-1 practice-game defeat versus the Colombian senior team, with a hard-fought 1-1 draw against top Colombian club team Santa Fe on Tuesday at the Fortaleza Training Camp ground. Santa Fe are one of the traditional powerhouses in Colombia’s first division club competition having won Categoría Primera A six times in the competition’s history and during the just concluded 2012 domestic season, they finished second behind eventual champions Deportes Tolima.
The 32-year-old midfield veteran Kayode McKinnon, who is one of the many senior Jaguars members who play club football in Trinidad and Tobago Professional League (TTPL), scored Guyana’s lone goal with a curling left-foot shot from on top the 18-yard box, in the 25th minute.
Despite the high altitude taking its toll on the players’ breathing, Guyana went into the halftime leading 1-nil, although Santa Fe eventually netted their equaliser in the 60th minute.
Shabazz made four changes to the team at halftime introducing Gregory Richardson, Jake Newton, Colin Nelson and Vurlon Mills to replace Brandon Beresford, Charles Pollard, Walter Moore and Howard Newton.
Guyana’s National coach Jamaal Shabazz said, “I was more pleased with the performance than the result. We welcomed Jackie Chan (Gregory Richardson) in the squad today but in the half he got his taste of the altitude and it minimised his effectiveness somewhat.”
But Shabazz was upbeat that several players were acclimatising to the altitude which had a positive effect on the team’s performance.
“Playing in high altitude is new for us and difficult for any team in the world. At least 9 players on the team are breathing better, hopefully by the time we reach Mexico our acclimatisation process would have taken effect.
“You just have to look at how a world-class South American team like Brazil, how they wilt under the altitude when they play Bolivia in La Paz,” reasoned Shabazz.
He concluded by saying: “It will be very difficult for us in Mexico but we are doing our best to prepare. The more we sweat now in peace time the less we will bleed in Mexico in wartime”.
Guyana captain Chris Nurse and England-based versatile left-sided defender/mid-fielder Chris Bourne are expected to join the squad in Bogota this weekend, with the team scheduled to play one more practice game before heading off to Mexico for their opening third round qualifier at the Estadio Azteca, Mexico City on June 8.