ON the heels of a historic visit to Brazil last week where Guyana Football Federation (GFF) president Wayne Forde met with Brazilian Football Federation (Confederação Brasileira de Futebol – CBF) president Rogerio Caboclo, the partnership has already bearing fruits.

The GFF, in a release, revealed that Ryan Hackett of Fruta Conquerors, Kelsey Benjamin (Georgetown Football Club) and Sese Norville of Milerock FC will spend one month at Brazilian second-division side, Madureira Esporte Clube where they will undergo pre-season training.

The trio who have been part of the senior national Golden Jaguars set-up in recent times will be exposed to another level of training over a four-week period with the possibility of landing a Pro-Contract, based on their performances during that period.

The young footballers were part of the historic Brazil Train and Play Camp last August when the senior national team spent two weeks there and played against the said club in a practice match.

Speaking about the venture, president Forde said that this is the first of many initiatives and the goal of the GFF, (which has also presented an MoU to CBF president Rogerio Caboclo) is aimed at holistic development of the sport on and off the field of play, along with ensuring that as many as 40 players between the ages of 18 and 22 years gain exposure in Brazil over the coming months and years.

“Ideally, we would prefer to have the players enter into the Brazilian Football system much younger, but unfortunately, language challenges, immigration laws and parental consideration are yet to be fully explored.”Forde maintained; “The GFF is very pleased that our work to develop a partnership with our Brazilian neighbours has started to bear fruit. This is a wonderful opportunity for the players ahead of our preparations for the Olympic Under-23 Qualifying competition in July. I would like to join the rest of Guyana in congratulating these players and wishing them every success whilst in Brazil.”

President Forde also offered congratulations to the management of the respective clubs, Milerock FC, Georgetown Football Club and Fruta Conquerors, thanking them for the work they have put into moulding these players.

He also indicated that the young Guyanese will likely feature in a friendly match in which Madureira Esporte Clube would play against the Qatar national team on June 9.

Qatar and Japan were invited to play in the world’s oldest continental tournament – Copa America, the 46th edition of the event, which will be played in six stadiums across five cities in Brazil.

The stadiums are Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and Sao Paulo.

The opening is set for the Morumbi Stadium (Sao Paulo) while the final will be held at the Maracaná Stadium (Rio de Janeiro).