THE Guyana Football Federation (GFF)/ExxonMobil International Futsal tournament kicked off last evening at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, with Team Guyana earning a convincing 4 – 0 win over their counterparts from the East Coast of Demerara.

After a short opening ceremony where the tournament was officially declared open by the Honourable Minister of State, Joseph Harman, the crowd was entertained by some clinical display of futsal from the Joseph ‘Bill’ Wilson-coached squad who was too strong for their opposition.

Coach Wilson opted to start with Rudy Halley in goal, along with Curtez Kellman, Sheldon Shepherd, Deon Alfred and Daniel Wilson, while for the East Coast All-Stars, Alzaliel Davis stood between the uprights and former National players Dwight Peters and Dwain Jacobs were joined by Quason McLean and Okeene Edwards.

It was obvious that game would’ve been off to a slow start, given the fact that usually the men who are now donning the national team colours are common foes since they came from rival clubs and area teams.

Nonetheless, after several promising attempts, the Guyana combined team would find their first goal of the night from substitute Andrew Murray in the 10th minute when he was marked late and his powerful right-footed volley was hit too hard and well placed for Davis.

Murray came close several times after but was denied by Davis. However, Delroy Deane, six minutes after Murray’s strike, neatly tucked away a through-ball from Eusi Phillips to give Guyana the 2 – 0 advantage heading into the second half.

An own-goal pushed Team Guyana 3 – 0 up, then Halley, from a set play, scored a beautiful right-footed shot; the best of the evening, in the 35th minute to seal the deal for Coach Wilson’s men.

The tournament, organised by the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation, will continue this evening with four more games, starting from 19:00hrs, when the Brazil side face-off with East Coast. Trinidad will then come up against Suriname at 20:00hrs and at 21:00hrs, a Linden vs Georgetown clash will be the third game, setting the stage for the Guyana vs West Demerara game at 22:00hrs.

The winning side will pocket $1.2M, while second through to fourth place will go home with $600,000; $300,000 and $100,000 respectively.