A tired but determined looking Suriname national football team arrived in Guyana yesterday afternoon to do battle in the Digicel Caribbean Championships which is now scheduled to commence tomorrow night at the Guyana National Stadium, Provi-dence.
The Suriname team will battle with hosts Guyana and Dominica who because of flight problems were unable to be here for yesterday’s scheduled start of the tournament. The tournament has been pushed back to tomorrow to accommodate the Dominicans but up to yesterday there was no word from the Guyana Football Federation as to the time of their arrival.
In an invited comment, Suriname’s coach Jaliens Kenneth took time out from the settling in process at the Ocean View International Hotel to state that the team’s preparation for the tournament had gone well.
He added that they will be using the championships as a training regimen for their next qualifying round matches for a place in the 2010 World Cup that is slated to be held in South Africa.
“Our preparation for this tournament was very good. We intend to use this championship as a stepping stone for our next qualifying round in the 2010 World Cup. Even our group matches hosted by Guyana in the DCC are being divided into two.”
The last time Guyana and Suriname met was in the second round of qualification matches in the 2010 World Cup with Suriname coming out victorious 3-1 on aggregate, following a 1-0 win at home followed by a 2-1 victory at the Guyana National Stadium one week later.
Kenneth stated that they have enjoyed a friendly rivalry with Guyana and will be looking to continue doing so when the two clash under the lights on Sunday.
“Our rivalry with Guyana is a friendly one and we will be looking to continue that rivalry when we face them on Sunday whilst at the same time, giving the Guyanese public a good show for their money. This group is not for us to lose but to win and we intend to use our tactical moves throughout this championships en route to that win, whilst at the same time, fine tune our preparations for our next World Cup qualifying round of matches.”
He added:“Our preparation for this tournament has been sound as we began our preparations five days after our victory over Guyana. We practiced four days a week whilst the players have been encamped during that period so as to allow for more practice hours together as a team.”
Meanwhile, Clifton Sanduliet, who found the back of the net twice during his country’s 3-1 aggregate win over Guyana in June expressed his delight at being back in the country of his nemesis to showcase his footballing skills. “I am pleased to be back here to encounter Guyana one more time following our 2-1 victory the last time we were here in June. They (Guyana) do have a strong team with the majority of their players plying their skills in Trinidad. But, having said such, we have a good team also and we are prepared to work hard to win the Digicel Caribbean Championship and proceed as group champions to the next round.” Meanwhile, First Secre-tary attached to the Suriname Embassy here in Guyana Charlo Doedel told Stabroek Sport that he was satisfied with the facilities at the Ocean View International Hotel where the team was being accommodated.
“The accommodation is very good this time around compared to when the team previously visited Guyana for the return leg of their second round 2010 World Cup qualifying tournament in June and I must express my heartfelt thanks to Director of Sport with the National Sports Commission, Neil Kumar.”
The Surinamese will have a practice session at the Plaisance Community Centre ground from 1630hrs today.
