GUYANA and Haiti will meet today for the first time since the French-speaking Island defeated the Golden Jaguars in 2012, as the two amplify their preparation for this year’s CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Haiti will open their Gold Cup campaign on June 16 against Bermuda, while Guyana will face defending Champions, USA, two days later in Minneapolis.

However, tonight’s matchup, which takes place in Costa Rica, will be the last taste of international football for the Golden Jaguars before they wing out for St Pauls, Minnesota, to set up camp ahead of their Group D opening against the USA.

According to a release from the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), they held their first training session on Sunday afternoon at the CAR Turrucares Playfield in San Jose.

Johnson informed that despite just getting a few hours rest, everyone is fit and well and the session was satisfying.

“We had to do something today, we knew the lads were tired but we knew we had to do something, bearing in mind that we have a game in 48 hours. So yes, it was a long journey but we got some good work in, a bit on how we want to play defensively without the ball, so it was a good session all in all, players have enjoyed it and now we are looking forward to (Monday’s) training session.”

Touching a bit on team bonding, Johnson said it is getting better as the days go by, adding “I think the most important thing we see in camp is the unity. I’m not with all this local-based and international-based, what I’ve seen over the last week coming together is a unified group; a group that interacts well no matter where they’re from, we all pull on the same shirt to play for one common cause and that’s for Guyana.”

Come the Haiti game, Johnson said they are looking to see improvements on a collective scale, reminding that it is not about the result at this juncture of preparations.

“If it were about the result, I’d play the strongest team, I’d play everybody where they should be playing but for us, it‘s about learning and trying to keep something back and just making sure that the players are taking on board all the information we are giving them. The journey continues.”