NATIONAL coach Jamaal Shabazz has stated he has taken full responsibility for the Golden Jaguars 4-0 defeat at the hands of Central American football giants Costa Rica, during their second, third-round fixture, of the 2014 CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, on Tuesday evening. In a very open and frank interview, Shabazz elaborated extensively one very conceivable aspect of the aforementioned encounter.
“I take full responsibility for the team’s performance. It’s a lesson for me and all of us that we cannot play open and we have to defend deep against every team in this group and when the opportunity presents itself then we can attack,” Shabazz noted with a cautious tone that coincided with the cautious nature of the tactical approach he mentioned.
He continued: “We were and I was naïve to start to try and defend higher up the field and Costa Rica just cut through us like a hot knife through butter and it is an important lesson in my career, that the different levels in the game call for more respect to be given to the opponent regardless if we are at home or away – a strong opponent is a strong opponent.”

LABOUR PAINS OF DEFEAT
The Trinidadian continued by equating the current state of national football teams development to that of a mother in labour before she brings forth her baby.
“We did get behind them a lot, but we were too careless instead, in not being compact and tight and defending deep for our dear lives. The time will come when Guyana will be able to compete against these teams in a more open way; it will take time and playing more matches at this level.
The staff, the players, the federation and the nation have to go through these labour pains. It is necessary labour pains for Guyana to reach that new level, before that baby of football progress could be born. We must as a country go through these pains,” he stated passionately.
Shabazz continued by saying: “We must face disappointments like these when we are beaten on our doorsteps against a superior opponent. It’s not a pleasant situation, but it’s one where we have to learn from these hard lessons. I am strong enough to take full responsibility and the blows that don’t break our back here, will strengthen it.”

FACING UP TO REALITY
In a sharp reality check/assessment, Shabazz begun to look ahead at Guyana’s remaining four games in the group, summarising where Guyana currently stand in CONCACAF compared to their position in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), while using the progress of Venezuela in South American football as a yardstick of where the Jaguars could be one day.
“We will learn from this experience, we have four more matches in the group. But more importantly we have to look for opponents superior to us, to expose the players, so that they can constantly become aware of playing at this level with teams currently involved in CONCACAF and South American (CONMEBOL) World Cup qualifying.”
“It’s best we face these opponents now, take our battering and learn from it. The people must face up to reality and we will grow. There was a time when Venezuela were the whipping boys of South America and now  they are among the top five countries in the region and they recently beat Argentina (a 1-0 defeat on October, 2011),”  Shabazz explained.
“Guyana can be considered one of the top five teams in CFU, but in CONCACAF we still have a long way to go. But we are on the journey and that’s the important thing; we are on the path of going to the next level and on that path we have some tough hard lessons to learn and the game against Costa Rica was one of them.”

CROWD REACTION
Finally Shabazz thanked the crowd for showing up at Providence and encouraged them to continue to maintain the continued level of support whether the team is celebrating highs similar to victory versus Trinidad and Tobago last November or lows, such as the game versus Costa Rica.
“I want to thank the public for coming out and giving that total support. Thanks to the politicians also since a lot of them were all there. The 12th man did show up, they did us very proud and on behalf of players, staff and the Guyana Football Federation (GFF)  I want to thank them,” noted Shabazz in a humble and appreciative tone.
“But I want to say to them also, don’t be faint-hearted and weak, we are in this thing together and they have to stand with us. Support means help and it’s when you’re down, you need the support, not when you’re up.
The same support that we had for each other when we came across the Atlantic as sons and daughters of slaves and indentured labourers is the same way we have to support this effort to the end – since the end will be best for the believers.”