By Stephan Sookram

‘LESSONS that are learnt easily are not lessons at all. They are gracious acts of luck. But lessons learnt the hard way are lessons never forgotten,’ a quote made famous by U.S. Legislator Don Williams Jr and epitomised Sunday evening by Guyana’s Golden Jaguars.The locals sank to a 5-1 loss against the Canadian U-23 side at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence and head coach Jamaal Shabazz minced no words in reiterating the statement.
“This is the level of the game; this is how we learn our lessons. When we play a superior opponent and we make simple errors we pay for them. I think these types of lessons are necessary in building the football brand and culture for Guyana,” he said.
He continued, “You could see their confidence (the Canadians) on the ball and their composure when the game really got tight, they pulled it through and there was so much that we can learn from this; I told our guys always battle and at times we made some crucial mistakes and were forced to pay.”
“We saw the future of two countries’ play and it shows us that we have a lot of work to do in terms of catching up with the higher end of CONCACAF. This is not a Caribbean football opponent, this is North American opponent,” the head coach contended
Meanwhile, captain Collin Nelson, added that the team will take the loss and head back to the drawing board in an attempt to correct those mistakes made Sunday night.

EXPOSURE NEEDED FOR THE YOUTH
Coach Shabazz also explained his starting line-up saying, “We used a lot of players that we look to the future with.”
“Either we want a truth or we want a lie. We must give exposure to some of the younger ones. Some of them came up big tonight,” added the Trinidadian as he cited Trayon Bobb and Devon Millington.
This he noted was the reason that several seasoned players were omitted from the match, saying, “The people who were to benefit from this game played tonight (Sunday) and I think they will certainly benefit from it.”