By Marlon Munroe
The inaugural champions of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Super League competition Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United will be looking to redeem itself this year at the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) club championships after being booted in the first round last year.
A total of 15 teams will participate in the preliminary phase of the tournament which will be played on a home and away basis.
At the completion of the preliminary phase the five winning teams will join Puerto Rico Islanders, San Juan Jabloteh, Bayamon FC, River Plate FC and Alpha United for the second stage of the tournament.
The number one ranked club in the country is expected to host this phase of the tournament with matches being played on March 24, 26 and 28 against Walking Boys of Suriname and Bath Estate of Dominica. With this in mind, President of Alpha United Odinga Lumumba said at a press conference yesterday at the Water Chris Hotel, that the club will need close to six million dollars to run this phase of the competition.
The money will help to offset internal transportation, accommodation and meals for the teams.
Additionally, Lumumba revealed that the club will be receiving a subvention from the CFU but his club will also be looking for support from the corporate community and the government.
He was unable to say how much money will be given by CFU.
Alpha will be competing against the best club teams in the Caribbean all of whom will be vying for honours to move to the next phase which is the CONCACAF Club Champions League.
Lumumba told media operatives yesterday that he was looking to bolster his team’s strength and the club has already taken steps to draft six players from Jamaica and Brazil.
Troylan Williams, a forward for the Mountain View FC, Santos FC midfielder Peter Gordon and Tivoli Garden midfielder Jermaine Allen from Jamaica are the three players already in Guyana and were present at the briefing yesterday. Lumumba said that these players will run practice sessions with the local players but only four players will be required at any one time during the tournament.
He said that he was looking to expose his players to the highest levels of competition where it is possible that talent scouts will be present.
Lumumba believes that his team will produce a better showing in this year’s tournament especially since management has been looking to lift the level of football at the club level.
According to assistant coach of the team Clifton Bobb, it is important at this time to focus on the conditioning of the team since some of the players are showing signs of low endurance. However, he was optimistic that the team will be fit and ready for their assignments in this year’s tournament.
The midfielders, according to Bobb, have also undergone some tactical and technical work. Captain Howard Lowe concurred that there was some work to be done before their games especially since it is fresh in the minds of the players that the team was ousted in the first round last year.
He said that each player was looking to work on their mistakes from the last time adding that if this was done quickly the team could get about focusing on winning and playing as a unit.