By Gary Tim
Georgia (SMS) — As the Golden Jaguars tighten the laces of their cleats for a kick at glory in today’s historic football game in Georgia, another goal will be waiting for them to boot away.
On one side, the Guyana national men’s team will be looking to win their international friendly with the Guatemala national team. And, on the flip, when the final minute whistle blows, they are hoping their ardor would have helped to bury the ghost of a horrendous national sporting experience over two decades ago.
Today’s game at the Kennesaw University stadium, will be the first time a representative team from the Land of Many Waters will contest a national level match on American soil since the mass absconding by a Guyana football squad 23 years ago. The majority of the team had jumped ship prior to the hitting the field, leaving just a couple to return home.
Most of today’s team members have little of no recollection of that ‘mutiny’ – a fact that Colin Baker of the USA-based Guyana Sports Development Foundation feels is a plus for the players’ psyche. “We are going into this game with all the purpose and positive from very recent achievements, and the players can’t be bothered by incidents or situations from such a long time ago.”
The debacle of 1987 resulted in Guyana being severely penalised by football’s governing bodies; a judgment that was as torrid a task for Guyana to overcome, as it will be today for the Guatemalan custodian trying to save a penalty kick by a Jaguars.
But, the newly resolute and vibrant Jaguars are in the USA, aiming to prove points. Baker said the players are forward-thinking; using today’s game to fuel the flames for Guyana’s football revitalization. “You have to move on. You have to forgive and forget, if you can interpret that.”
“I’ve been telling a lot of people that’s what we need to do,” he pleaded, adding that “every time there’s talk of coming to the US for games a lot of people voice their opinion ‘you’re not going to get visas’,” But, the diminutive-statured Baker noted that Guyana has stood up to the tall order, “A typical example is we have about 90% of the squad with visas, and that is a good mark we want to ensure we honor and improve upon.”
Earlier, Guyana Football Federation (GFF) president Colin Klass had indicated that every effort was being made to have a full-fledged team to represent the Golden Arrowhead. “Basically, this game will expose our players to a number of scouts and coaches who will be there to look at our players, and we hope to catch their eyes and approaches.” Baker had added that “a lot of coaches and other people have marveled at the raw talent that Guyana possess, especially those accompanying team against Guyana.
Yesterday the team went through a light session at the stadium before attending a media day exercise. In the evening, the visitors were hosted to a welcome reception by the Guyana Association of Georgia (GOAG) – one of the groups collaborating with other entities to present this first match in the El Patron Football series.
Baker feels that playing against Guatemala takes the team in the on a step in that direction. He said, “Here’s a team that is trying to get to the next level, and if we go back to last World Cup qualifying scenario, definitely there are a lot of lessons and we are implementing those.” He highlighted programmes that target players at the junior levels, as one of the layers of the Jaguars’ development plan to 2014 in Brazil. “Having said that, we have also been getting favorable results from overseas players who want to play for Guyana, and all this will pay dividends as things are done in a more structured manner.”
And, Austin Thompson Jr. of the GOAG said his work was cut out during his pitch to fans and the wider Caribbean community that the game is not being played by a phony team assembled to compete against Guatemala. “These are your national, professional, World Cup calibre players, and they are definitely the quality team that fans want to see.” He had said that all forms of marketing are being utilized by his group as it assists the primary promoters to whip up interest. “We really ensuring that we exploit all channels and are working feverishly to saturate the community will all possible advertising.”
Though the match falls smack on mid-week, as against on the weekend, Thompson said many supporters of the Jaguars are feverish over putting out a patriotic show, and plan on travelling from the neighboring Carolinas, Alabama and Florida states as well as from as far as Texas, New York, New Jersey, Virginia and Maryland to Kennesaw – a 45-minute drive northwest of the general Caribbean community of Atlanta.
The team is fit and raring to go, according to International Coordinator Garth Nelson who is assisting to manage the Jaguars. Additionally, though it’s a late evening game, the players will be available for a post-game ‘meet-n-greet’ session to show appreciation to supporters and others. “Fans will definitely want to rub shoulders and get photo ops with players, and we know this is a must.” Nelson said.
“Time is rather short and we’ll be making the best of our time in Georgia, but the game is our main focus from now until the team would have left on Thursday morning,” Baker said, before responding to a query for his predictions.
“I think they will make Guyana proud. I think we have been doing well recently and we have moved to second in the Caribbean to Jamaica. We are getting the kind of exposure and this is a continuing chance to show the rest of the world that we are a promising football country.”
