THE Guyana Football Federation (GFF) announced last evening the ‘Golden Jaguars’, the country’s senior men’s national football team, will warm up for the CONCACAF Nations League qualifiers with an intensive “train and play” trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in August.

According to the GFF, encampment kick-starts a busy schedule of competition and training for the Golden Jaguars, following the appointment of former Jamaica international Michael Johnson as the team’s new head coach, whose immediate target will be to guide Guyana to its first appearance at a CONCACAF Gold Cup, in 2019.

“One of the key development objectives of the GFF is to ensure that our national teams have the full calendar of playing and training time needed, in order to achieve the improved performances and results we all want to see,” said GFF Technical Director Ian Greenwood.

Greenwood also related that “under the guidance of head coach Johnson, with longer encampments and a ‘train and play’ trip to Brazil, the Golden Jaguars will be in the best shape they have ever been, going into the CONCACAF Nations League qualifiers later this year.”

Johnson, the highest qualified head coach in the history of the Golden Jaguars, is now working with the GFF Technical Department to prepare the national team for upcoming CONCACAF Nations League qualifier fixtures against Barbados, Turks & Caicos and French Guiana.

Johnson arrived in Guyana today for discussions with the technical team, and to start putting his programme in place.

The Golden Jaguars will be encamped in Guyana before each of the CONCACAF Nations League qualifiers, which coincide with FIFA international windows.

The camps are scheduled to take place at the new GFF National Training Centre at Providence, with Guyana’s first, all-weather football pitch due to enter its final stage of construction shortly.

The 2018 fixtures for the men’s national team include:

September 8 – CONCACAF Nations League qualifier v Barbados (home)

October 13 – CONCACAF Nations League qualifier v Turks & Caicos (away)

November 20 – CONCACAF Nations League qualifier v French Guiana (away)

The GFF plans to host six national training camps per calendar year – four during FIFA international windows and two further camps outside of those windows, with the possibility of encampment in the UK.