Manager of the Tucville-based Fruta Conquerors Football Club (FCFC) Wayne Forde feels that his team can win the 19th Annual Kashif and Shanghai (K&S) football tournament, once they play together as a team and display a professional attitude.
“It does not matter whether we go a quarter of the way, half way, all the way or no way at all in the competition, once we play as a team and display discipline throughout our games, we can come out on top with the silverware on January 1 2009 at the Guyana National Stadium, once a professional approach is applied,” Forde declared.
Fruta Conquerors will open their quest for honours this evening against Lethem at the Plaisance Community Development Centre ground.
Speaking with Stabroek Sport from his South Ruimveldt-based business office, Forde, while outlining his team’s preparations for Guyana’s marquee tournament, opined that his team had been struggling in the area of discipline over the past year.
“This has impacted a lot on the younger players whilst at the same time hampered the unity within the team. Discipline is an area where a lot of teams not only in football have been struggling to come to grips with and we are no different, as we have been struggling with same over the past year.”
Forde, believes that his team has a good chance of claiming its third Kashif and Shanghai championship honours, despite their below par performances in recent tournaments. “There are some teams in the Georgetown Football Association (GFA) who despite displaying below par performances can at any one time produce the goods in a knockout tournament. Teams such as B. K. International Western Tigers, Pele, Guyana Defence Force and Camptown. These are clubs who are used to winning and shouldn’t be written off easily. “We have displayed the same attitude as the above-mentioned clubs amongst others and it is with that in mind that I am saying our chances are just as good as any other team in the competition. This is a marquee football tournament in Guyana, one which encourages teams to lift their game to another level,” said Forde. While he was not hesitant to announce the composition of his team for the tournament, he did state that FC would be moving away from their usual two strikers approach and would be utilizing an extra midfielder who can overlap into the forward position.
“We have quality players in the calibre of Elroy Parks, young Manasseh Primo, Trevon Lycott, Teon Carr and our hard working and consistent custodian Oswald Cornette. If you add the experienced Leebert Stevenson, whom we are hoping would be here in time for our first game to the line-up, then I think the only team who can beat us is Fruta Conquerors themselves.”