(Analysis provided by Santokie Nagulendra/www.wired868.com)

TONIGHT, at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva, Trinidad, Guyana’s Golden Jaguars, the country’s senior national football team, will do battle against the ‘Soca Warriors’ in an official FIFA International Friendly.

On November 11, 2011 at the Guyana National Stadium, the ‘Golden Jaguars roared to a 2-1 win over the ‘Soca Warriors’ to end the Twin Island Republic’s 2014 World Cup hopes, and, at the time, created history by reaching, for the first time, the penultimate round of the CONCACAF leg of the qualifiers.

Tonight’s match will be the 21st meeting between the two countries in the sport, with the first being in 1978. The ‘Soca Warriors’ have won 14 of those meetings, while four matches ended in a draw. Guyana’s last victory was on November 11, 2011 and their first was a 4-0 win in the Island’s capital.

Interim head coach Wayne Dover’s 18-man squad includes three TT Pro League players – goalkeepers Akil Clarke (North East Stars) and Andrew Durant (San Juan Jabloteh) and striker Sheldon Holder (Morvant Caledonia United).

The Guyana team, who are ranked 165th in the world by FIFA, are led by versatile defender Sam Cox, a 27-year-old former Tottenham Hotspur Academy player who now plies his trade for Wealdstone FC in England’s National League South.
Terence Vancooten, a 19-year-old defender, is also in the squad and he is a talent to watch, being the only member of the England-based contingent to feature in England’s Football League, where he plays for Stevenage FC in League 2.

Guyana’s biggest threat, attacking midfielder Neil Danns, misses the game for unspecified reasons. That will be a massive blow for the team because the Bury FC player dominates the midfield when he plays and has proved to be a very dominant player on the CFU stage.
However, Warren Creavalle, another powerful midfielder who features in the MLS for Philadelphia Union, has been called up to the squad after missing Guyana’s last game versus Grenada through injury. His availability is a big boost to the team.

The squad includes Kadell Daniel, a pacy winger, who is arguably Guyana’s trump card. Having recently found form for Dover Athletic in England’s National League, he is set to make his debut for the Senior Team after having played for the Under-23 Olympic squad in 2015.

Trinidadian fans will know all about Gregory Richardson, the former Joe Public striker who famously scored a hat-trick against MLS side New England Revolution in 2008. Now 35 years old, Richardson is no longer the lethal marksman he once was but he does still have an air of unpredictability about him when he plays.
Richardson will most likely feature from the bench, with former MLS striker Emery Welshman, a clever striker whose injury-plagued career so far has yet to see him truly reach his potential, almost a certainty to start up front.

Goalkeepers: Akil Clarke (North East Stars FC), Andrew Durant (San Juan Jabloteh FC);

Defenders: Christopher Bourne (Islington Admiral United FC, England), Jake Newton (Walton & Hersham FC, England), Jelani Smith (Sigma FC, Canada), Samuel Cox (Wealdstone FC, England), Terence Vancooten (Stevenage FC, England).

Midfielders: Brandon Beresford (Rochester Rhinos FC-USA), Warren Creavalle (Philadelphia Union USA), Dwain Jacobs (Police FC, Guyana), Anthony Benfield (Alpha United FC, Guyana), Kadell Daniel (Dover Athletic FC, England), Daniel Jodah (Sigma FC, Canada).

Forwards: Shaquille Agard (Durham United FC, Canada), Emery Welshman (Puerto Rico Islanders, USA), Sheldon Holder (Caledonia), Gregory Richardson (Pele FC, Guyana), Devonte Small (Reynir FC, Iceland).