Four goals in the first half and three in the second half saw Guyana go down 7-1 to a superior Colombia side ranked 23rd in the world in a closed door practice match at Estadio El Campin, on Monday evening.
According to a press release from the Guyana Football Federation, this fixture was organized by the national coaching staff as part of the acclimatization process to thin air and high altitude that will be expected when the Jaguars face Mexico in their opening CONCACAF, third round, 2014 World Cup qualifier, on June 8th at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
Colombia who defeated Mexico 2-0 in a friendly on February 29th – the same night Guyana lost 2-0 to Guatemala at Providence Stadium – also used this game as preparation for their upcoming CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers versus Peru and Ecuador.
At a venue that was 2,500 meters (8,200 ft) above sea level and was once banned by FIFA in 2007 due to concerns about players’ health and the unfair advantage to being acclimatized to conditions in countries such as Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia, before the limit was raised to 3000 meters recently, the Jaguars welcomed back key foreign-based players such as defender Leon Cort, John Paul “JP” Rodrigues, the Newton Brothers and Ricky Shakes to the playing group.
The Colombians colloquially referred to as the Los Cafeteros (The Coffee Growers) who are coached by highly rated Argentine Jose Peckerman, who took Argentina to the quarter-finals of the 2006 World Cup in Germany, gave the Jaguars a timely and valuable lesson on what is required to counter such opposition in these conditions.
Head Coach Jamaal Shabazz was very straightforward in his assessment of the loss.
“I think in the first half we took a long time to settle in a game where the altitude took its toll on the players breathing, but by the time we got settled we were already four goals down,” he stated.
Shabazz introduced Ricky Shakes, Howard Newton and Brandon Beresford into the second half.
“We went to the bench early and I thought Ricky and Howard did a better job at closing down on the sides. We had to defend for long periods and provided little support for Carl Cort alone up top,” revealed Shabazz.
Guyana scored in the final minute through Anthony Abrams but had two chances earlier missed by Cort and winger Brandon Beresford.
For Colombia, strikes from James Rodriguez (FC Porto) and Freddy Guarin (Inter Milan) and braces from Jackson Martinez and Luis Muriel along with an own goal by Guyana accounted for their seven goals.
Looking at the overall game Shabazz stated: “We were slaughtered tonight (Monday night) but it was no disgrace, we are happy to play a top footballing nation in conditions like we will meet in Mexico where the breathing difficulty will be the same. Objectively we lost the first half 4 nil and an improved second half we lost 3-1, I saw an improvement so we are encouraged,” ended Shabazz. Guyana is set to meet a top Colombian professional team later today.
Guyana: Ronson Williams, Charles Pollard, Leon Cort, JP Rodrigues, Jake Newton, Walter Moore, Dwight Peters, Kayode McKinnon, Anthony Benfield, Shawn Beveney, Carl Cort.
Substitutes: Ricky Shakes, Howard Newton, Brandon Beresford.
Colombia: David Ospina, Camilo Zuniga, Aquivaldo Mosquera, Mario Yepes and Pablo Armero, Adrian Ramos, Carlos Sanchez, Fredy Guarin and James Rodriguez, Jackson Martinez and Pabon Dorlan.
Substitutes: Luis Perea, Juan Guillermo Cuadrado, Bernardo Espinosa, Aldo Ramirez, Juan David Valencia, Juan Fernando Quintero, Luis Fernando Muriel, Cristian Zapata and Breiner Castillo.
