Iin Fort Lauderdale (Compliments of: Shi Oil, Guyana Lottery Company, STAG Beer)

MONTHS of preparation, coupled with another failed World Cup bid for the Golden Jaguars, all comes down to this day – their 2021 Gold Cup pre-qualifiers clash against Guatemala tonight from 21:30hrs at the DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA.
For coach Marcio Maximo, the result of this game can determine his future at the helm of Guyana’s senior Men’s National football team, taking into account the country’s dismal performance at the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
In their second matchup, should they get past Guatemala, Jaguars will meet the winners of the Guadeloupe versus The Bahamas for a place in the 16- team finals.
The 165th ranked Guyana, earned qualification to the 2021 Gold Cup preliminary round after finishing 2nd in their B League group competition of the second edition of the CONCACAF Nations League.

Though falling 3-0 in their first meeting with Guatemala in 2010, then 2-0 two years later at the Guyana National Stadium, Golden Jaguars will be hoping to come away with a win and move on to face either The Bahamas or Guadeloupe in the second round of the CONCACAF Gold Cup qualifiers.
Should Máximo and his troops come out successful, they will be drawn in Group C of the CONCACAF Gold Cup alongside Jamaica, Suriname and Costa Rica.
The Guyana Football Federation (GFF), in giving the team their best possible chance of advancing to their second Gold Cup (2019), ensured that the team arrived in Florida way in advance of their Guatemala encounter to set up camp.

Since there, Guyana played a few friendly matches, which saw them edge Bermuda 1-0 on Tuesday in a final 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup Prelims tune-up for both sides.
According to reports from Florida, while Bermuda largely controlled the match, they were never able to breach what was a very compact and well-organised Guyana defence.
According to team captain, Matthew Briggs, the Guyanese are ready for the challenge ahead, as he spoke of the team’s mood in the camp and their level of preparation ahead of tonight’s encounter. Golden Jaguars, who last Saturday defeated Miami Dade FC 3-1 in another friendly match, got the winning goal in the second half off a strike from Ryan Kedhoo, a member of Guyana’s training squad, in the 85th minute. Connor Kurran-Browne, who plays with English football championship club Bournemouth FC, is the lone newcomer named in coach Maximo’s 23-man squad for Golden Jaguars’ CONCACAF Gold Cup preliminary round clash against Guatemala.
Though being named in the provisional 60-man squad, Guyana’s 2019 Gold Cup hero, Neil Danns, did not find favour in Maximo’s final squad, nor did Sam Cox, Pernell Schultz and Callum Harriott.

Kurran-Browne’s Bournemouth FC teammate, Nathan Moriah-Welsh, was impressive for Maximo since making his debut for Guyana in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers and will get another chance to do the same in Florida. Guyana’s ‘Wonder Boy’ Omari Glasgow was also named as he looked to continue his good run on the international scene, while Trayon Bobb, who was snubbed in 2019, gets a call-up. Queens Park Rangers’ Stephen Duke-McKenna will have another taste of Gold Cup action, having played in the Michael Johnson side in 2019.
Midfielder Curtez Kellman, coming off an exceptional NJCAA collegiate season with Daytona State College, returns to international football for the first time since 2018.
Kellman did well-enough to pick up an NJCAA Division One All-American selection. Reiss Greenidge, the Bolton Wanderers defender who was an unused substitute in Guyana’s squad that defeated Belize 2-1 in the CONCACAF Nations League, has been included in Maximo’s side. Matthew Briggs, Terrence Vancooten, Emery Welshman, Sheldon Holder, Keanu Marsh-Browne, Liam Gordon, Akel Clarke, Kevin Layne and Daniel Wilson will join Duke-McKenna as the only other players on the 23-man roster that featured in coach Michael Johnson’s squad when Guyana made their first-ever Men’s Gold Cup appearance.