WARREN Creavalle, an essential member of the Golden Jaguars, usually tasked with midfield responsibility, has been officially ruled out of Guyana’s historic Gold Cup encounter. He sustained an injury while training during their first stage of the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup Camp in Bermuda.

The Philadelphia Union midfielder was excited to play his part in this history-making journey for Guyana who have qualified for the first time ever. But unfortunately he broke a bone in his foot during training and has since been replaced by fellow midfielder Brandon Beresford, who joined the team for the second leg of the camp, which took place in Costa Rica.

Guyana’s head coach Michael Johnson said that the entire team is gutted with Creavalle’s injury, as he is a key part of the team. He recalled the role Creavalle played in Guyana’s 2-1 win against Belize to qualify for the Gold Cup.

“When he came on we got back the control of the game. He is a clever player and uses the ball very, very well; puts his body into some terrific positions. We’ll miss that sort of experience with somebody who understands the MLS, playing in America as well, and going up against the Americans could have given us so much insight. So it’s a big, big loss for us and him, because these tournaments do not come around very often for Guyana.”

Johnson noted; “Our thoughts and prayers are with him. The most important thing is that he recovers well enough and maintains his club career with the Philadelphia union.”

While he’ll miss the Gold Cup, a medical assessment has indicated that Creavalle would need between four to six weeks to recover properly so he should be ready for the 2019/2020 edition of the CONCACAF Nations League, which kicks off in September.

Guyana will contest League B with their first match on September 6 against Aruba.

Meanwhile, Beresford, who is well known to the technical staff and was included in the 40-man provisional squad, submitted to CONCACAF, was called up to the team and joined on the second stage of the camp which took place in Costa Rica.

Johnson pointed out; “Brandon is someone we know very well, particularly from early on in my tenure when he came and played very well against Barbados and he’s been in other camps as well. So we know what he is capable of. So there was an obvious standout candidate when we knew that Warren would be struggling to come back to the camp and it was Brandon.”

According to tournament rules, “injury-related changes will be allowed to the final 23-player rosters for the Group Stage until 24 hours before each team’s first match. Any injury replacements must come from the announced preliminary 40-player rosters and must be approved by CONCACAF.”

On his call-up to the 23-man squad, Beresford revealed; “It’s a surreal experience still, being involved with Guyana for the past nine years. It’s had its ups and downs and I’ve seen what it’s like from the youth level, U-20, U-23 and I’m glad to experience all of that.”

He noted that being at the point where the game’s at now in Guyana is a testament to what has been taking place over the past nine years – the evolution of the game – and he is very appreciative of playing whenever he gets the opportunity to do so.

“I’m so extremely blessed to be a part of this and have been able to be a part of it for the past nine years. It’s a blessing. It’s still pretty unbelievable and I will be giving 100% plus.”

Beresford is currently playing in the USL League 2 (USA 4th Division) competition with Peachtree City Moba.

The Golden Jaguars’ first training session in Minneapolis is scheduled for this afternoon after the team took a rest day yesterday following their arrival from Costa Rica Wednesday evening.