Now that he has been given given the green light by the Trinidad & Tobago Football Federation (TTFF)to start working with the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Jamaal Shabazz, head coach of the Golden Jaguars football team, has decided on a two-tiered approach to developing the Guyana national team programme for the future.
“I have worked things out with the TTFF and my portfolios are now very clear,” stated Shabazz.
“I will be handling Coach Educationin the TTFF, not doing any actual coaching with any national team, while the loan arrangement allows me to coach the Guyana national team, in the short term,” Shabazz explained.
“We must have two teams but one pool. The local-based squad, which will be mainly younger players, and the first team, which will include the foreign-based players and represent the cream of the crop,” Shabazz said.
The Golden Jaguars are set to embark on a series of friendly matches ahead of their clash against Guatemala on February 29 at the Providence National Stadium.
For the game against Guatemala, Shabazz has called up the Cort brothers Leon and Carl, skipper Christopher Nurse, veteran defender Charles “Lily” Pollard, while recalling USA-based defender John JP Rodrigues.
Trinidad-based Ronson Williams, Walter Moore, Kayode McKinnon and English-based Jake and Howard Newton, Ricky Shakes, Shawn Beveney and Chris Bourne have all been invited for the Guatemala game. Star striker Gregory Richardson is also on the list for the Guatemala game.
Prior to this, however, Shabazz and his staff announced a youthful 21-man squad which will undergo a 10-day training camp followed by a four-game Caribbean trip from February 13 to 23.
The squad includes 17 Guyana-based players including Canadian Taylor Benjamin and four Trinidad & Tobago-based players in Moore, Colin Nelson and Trayon Bobb of Caledonia AIA and McKinnon of North East Stars.
“We have focused on giving exposure to a younger group of players so that we can widen the pool of players to choose from in the not too distant future,” stated Shabazz.
“It also gives an opportunity for some of the younger ones to force their way into the team for the game against Guatemala,” added Shabazz.
Guyana will play a representative Tobago XI, Trinidad & Tobago Under-23 Team, St Vincent national team and the Grenada national team on February 14, 16, 19 and 22 respectively.
“These are very good startup games for these youngsters the T&T U-23 team just defeated Finland 1-0, this is after Finland defeated the T&T seniors 3-2. So we are meeting a T&T U-23 team that has played in the U-17 and U-20 FIFA World Cups and trust me they are a team that can run us out of the park,” stated Shabazz.
“Actually I am more excited about the youngsters and this trip than the game against Guatemala,” stated Shabazz referring to the Caribbean trip.
“Yes the Guatemala game will be a huge test for us but this Caribbean trip is the start of the senior careers for most of these youngsters. This is their caterpillar to butterfly stage in football and having an input in lives of such talented youngsters really excites me,” Shabazz concluded.
