… Ronayne Marsh-Brown lone debutant in 23-man squad

NEIL Danns, the former Leicester City and Crystal Palace midfield maestro, will be making a return to the ‘Golden Jaguars’, after being named in head coach Michael Johnson’s 23-man squad for Guyana’s September 6 encounter against Barbados, at the Leonora Track and Field Centre, for their opening game of the CONCACAF Nation’s League.

Having first played for Guyana in 2015, Danns has featured four times for the country’s senior men’s national team, finding the back of the net three times, including twice against St Vincent and the Grenadines in Guyana’s heartbreaking and controversial home game result in the last World Cup Qualifiers.

He’s considered a clinical and important piece to Johnson’s midfield, as the former Jamaican International and Guyana’s national team coach attempts to make history by seeing the Golden Jaguars to their first CONCACAF Gold Cup berth.

Johnson, in an invited comment, said the squad is “strong and competitive”, adding, “We have a positive blend of Guyana and international-based players in the squad but they all understand they have to earn the right to wear the badge.”

Danns will have debutant Ronayne Marsh-Brown, an England-based solid left-side defensive option as his teammate; the older brother of Keanu and Ky Marsh-Brown.  Ronayne Marsh-Brown has played a season professionally for RKC Waalwijk in Holland under former Tottenham Hotspurs coach Martin Jol.

Kai McKenzie-Lyle, the 20-year-old Barnet FC goalkeeper who, according to reports, was on coach Jurgen Klopp’s radar for a move to Liverpool, will also be making his return to the Golden Jaguars lineup.

Defenders Terence Vancooten, Samuel Cox and Jake Newton are the ‘UK bunch’ included in the team, while the other overseas-based players named are Brandon Beresford (Portugal), Andrew Murray (Trinidad), Sheldon Holder (Trinidad), Trayon Bobb (Portugal) and Jelani Smith (Canada).

Jason Cromwell (Buxton United), Akel Clarke (Western Tigers), Kevin Layne (NA United), Kevin Dundas (Den Amstel), Kester Jacobs (Den Amstel), Delwin Fraser (GDF), Vurlon Mills (Western Tigers), Daniel Wilson (Western Tigers), Delon Lanferman (Den Amstel), Kelsey Benjamin (Western Tigers) and Pernell Schultz (Western Tigers) are the other players named in the squad.

Johnson also announced a standby list of players: Sese Norville (Milerock FC), Cecil Jackman (Fruta Conquerors), Rashaun Ritch (Fruta Conquerors), Kurtez Kellman (Western Tigers), Ryan Hackett (Fruta Conquerors), Domini Garnett (Fruta Conquerors) and Delroy Fraser (GDF).

Ian Greenwood, the GFF’s Technical Director, explained that the standby list was chosen after the recently-concluded preparatory ‘Train and Play’ camp in Brazil, which he said enabled the technical staff to assess the players in the pool through a variety of exercises including fitness.

“While it was a competitive process to shortlist the 23-man squad, it was felt that these players had enough of what is required to wear the badge at the highest level of football in Guyana and therefore, are being called to be available in the event of injury or any unforeseen circumstances,” Greenwood noted.

According to the GFF, the Golden Jaguars’ international-based players and the technical squad are scheduled to arrive today, while Barbados team is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday.

Early-bird tickets for the Thursday’s event are available at the GFF Secretariat for $1 000. Tickets will also be sold at the gate.

Guyana have been matched against Barbados, Turks and Caicos Islands, French Guiana and Belize and will host Barbados and Belize in September 2018 and March 2019 respectively while Turks and Caicos Islands and French Guiana will host Guyana in October and November 2018.

With matches being played on the FIFA dates between September 2018 and March 2019, Guyana, after their clash with Barbados on September 6, will then travel to Turks and Caicos for a meeting between the two countries on October 13, followed by an encounter against French Guiana on November 20, before hosting Belize in March, 2019.