GUYANA’S flagship football team, the Golden Jaguars, ranked 109th in the FIFA Coca Cola World Rankings will be taking on potent Central America opposition El Salvador, ranked 64th in the world in two all-important away and home Group B, 2014 World Cup Qualifiers on September 7 and 11 respectively. Although the Golden Jaguars lost both their opening encounters to CONCACAF powerhouses Mexico and Costa Rica in June that may have dampened the spirits and enthusiasm of football fans in the nation.
However, the situation in the group with regard to fixtures and form of their opponents in the group means that positive results versus El Salvador can propel the Golden Jaguars into a position of strength and renewed hope.
The form of El Salvador, qualifiers of two World Cups in its history – 1970 and 1982 – has been equally patchy currently similar to Guyana’s.
On the recent FIFA friendly international date on August 15, they were outplayed 2-0 by Caribbean powerhouse Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz; the same Jamaican side that the Golden Jaguars lost to by a 1-0 margin in May.
With both teams acutely aware of each other’s performance at present, the stakes cannot be higher as the teams prepare to lock horns in two weeks’ time.
Also on the same dates, while the Guyana/El Salvador clash will be in full swing, Costa Rica will be engaged in a difficult home/away tie against Mexico, when it is very possible they can be defeated in both games and be pointless.
Therefore an hypothetical scenario in which Costa Rica lose both their matches against Mexico; and Guyana can conjure up a pair of wins or a win and a draw can conceivably put the Golden Jaguars back into second place in this group. However this cannot happen without local support especially in the return game on September 11 at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.

CROWD SUPPORT INCENTIVE
The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) is therefore appealing to football fans and followers for the home game on September 11 to come out early and make the Providence Stadium a very hostile venue for the Salvadorians.
When Guyana visit El Salvador first at the almost 40 000-seat, Estadio Cuscatlan, their fans will certainly not be indulging in any lenient overtures towards the Golden Jaguars on the evening of September 7.
In the global football world, the importance of home support cannot be understated or overlooked. When Guyana were in Mexico at the world famous Estadio Azteca in June, the team experienced this dynamic, first hand.
An hour before kick-off the stadium was already half-full and by the time it was kick-off, a noisy, raucous, passionate and ferocious atmosphere greeted the Golden Jaguars which set the tone for the entire game. This was also experienced when Guyana played Bolivia, in their recent International friendly.
As much as the crowd support for the recent high profile home fixtures against Trinidad and Tobago, Guatemala and Costa Rica was present at Providence, the aforementioned scenarios which were experienced overseas did not fully materialise with the local football enthusiasts.
To try and bridge this gap, the GFF will be allowing free parking at the National Stadium up to 19:00hrs on September 11.
So we encourage the national football Diaspora before the 20:00hrs kick-off to be at the Stadium an hour before to set the perfect atmosphere for the home team and appropriately an intimidating atmosphere for the visiting El Salvador unit.
Tickets are available at Ashmin’s, High Street at $3 000 each. For Private Boxes persons can contact the Guyana Football Federation on 225-2906 or 227-8758.