Golden Jaguars drawn in Group 5 of 2016/17 CFU Caribbean Cup
Veteran sports broadcaster Lance Whittaker was assisted with the Round 1 draw by CFU executive member Sonia Bien-Aime.
Veteran sports broadcaster Lance Whittaker was assisted with the Round 1 draw by CFU executive member Sonia Bien-Aime.

GUYANA’S Senior Men’s National Football team, more popularly known as the Golden Jaguars have been drawn in Group five of the 2016/17 CFU Caribbean Cup tournament. The competition, which is scheduled to take place during officially-sanctioned FIFA international match periods giving Member Associations the opportunity to select their best possible teams, will kick off in March (21-29) with all of the countries except Haiti, Jamaica, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago, who are all still participating in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
The Golden Jaguars were drawn alongside Puerto Rico and Anguilla, in the 26-team Caribbean Football Union (CFU) tournament which is being sponsored by Scotiabank.
Round two of the Championship is scheduled for May and Round three in October. The 5th Place playoff will take place in November and the finals in May 2017. The top four teams will qualify to the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Since their 2018 World Cup qualifier against the ‘Vincy Heat’ (St Vincent and the Grenadines), the Golden Jaguars were dormant and now, head coach Jamaal Shabazz will reassemble his troops to better their 2007 showing at the tournament, where Guyana narrowly missed out on a spot in the semi-final and ultimately the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
The 2007 edition of the tournament which started in 1989, was said to be Guyana’s best showing, with the Charles Pollard-captained side playing undefeated in Group I with wins over Antigua and Barbuda (6-0), Dominican Republic (2-0) and Guadeloupe (3-2) in French Island of Martinique.
In the final group stage which would have determined the CFU’s representatives at the 2007 Gold Cup, Guyana were placed alongside Cuba, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Guadeloupe.
However, Shabazz’s men fell 2-0 to the Vincentians, defeated Guadeloupe 4-3 but in a game where they needed to win, Guyana played to a goalless draw against the Cubans, missing out on the Gold Cup on goal average.
Nigel ‘Powers’ Codrington was the 2007 CFU Caribbean Cup’s highest goalscorer with 11. Codrington is Guyana’s all-time leading goalscorer, netting 18 goals.
The seven-group Round 1 is as follows:-
Group 1 Antigua and Barbuda, St Kitts and Nevis and Aruba
Group 2 Grenada, St Maarten and United States Virgin Islands (USVI)
Group 3 Cuba, Bermuda and French Guiana
Group 4 Barbados, Curacao and the Dominican Republic
Group 5 Guyana, Puerto Rico and Anguilla
Group 6 Guadeloupe, St Martin and Suriname
Group 7 Martinique, British Virgin Islands and Dominica.

By Rawle Toney

 

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