GUYANA Senior National Men’s team, the Golden Jaguars, suffered from what is being described as a ‘glass jaw’ in their defence, which led to their 4-4 draw with the St Vincent National team at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, last Sunday evening.Head coach of the Golden Jaguars unit, Jamaal Shabazz, did not mince words in expressing this view on the defensive work of his unit during the post-match press conference.
“It didn’t just go in the team’s favour, it didn’t go in our country’s favour, I thought we didn’t do well in defence at all. I thought we had a glass jaw and you know, while we always had to keep coming from behind, the little inspiration that we got in getting back into the game, I thought our defending left a lot to be desired. If we give up this many goals in international football, it’s always going to be very, very difficult to win.”
Shabazz went on to defend his team’s starting 11, adding that the movers and shakers in the team had set out certain expectations. “We, the technicians are in the training sessions, all the training sessions; we know what we trying to get out of the team and it is a decision that we have to make. Always, it is easy to second guess it after the fact.
“The team the fans pick don’t ever lose but nobody considers that they don’t ever win either. So it’s easy to second-guess who should have played and who should not have played, but I don’t think that had anything to do with the result.
“I thought that the result, for anybody who knows football was clear, we didn’t defend as well as we should and we paid the price for it. I think that’s the critical issue.”
He contended that the team played valiantly to the end and he is proud of that, adding too that every time they fell to the ground, they were able to pick themselves back up and equalise. The Trinidad international also commented on the exclusion of defender Matthew Briggs, who he said had complained of pains in the stomach. Shabazz said after discussions with the management and the player, they decided that someone with more energy should be given the chance.
Captain Chris Nurse said that the unit fell due to a few individual errors but refused to lay the blame at any single person’s feet.
“The players played their hearts out. They scored 4 goals at home and we lost the game on a few individual errors, but it happens in football. We win as a team and we lose as a team, so we will get around the guys, pick each other up and tomorrow is another day.”
Vincy Heat head coach Cornelius Huggins, quizzed about his team’s obvious improvements commented on the fact that they had been working on the finishing.
“Yeah! We worked a lot on finishing; I think that was one of the problems in St Vincent. As I say, you get one opportunity, you have to count that when you playing against top teams like Guyana, one opportunity, and you have to score that.”
Even though the game ended in a 4-4 draw, the touring St Vincent side progressed via the away-goal rule, taking with them Guyana’s chance at securing a spot in the Russia 2018 world cup qualifiers.

By Stephan Sookram