Guyana’s Junior Jaguars face an uphill task to advance to the next round of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Under-17 World Cup qualification tournament but could secure their first win against minnows British Virgin Islands (BVI) at the Haseley Crawford Stadium in Trinidad and Tobago today.
The Guyanese went down to Suriname 3-1 in their opening match Tuesday and will face the host Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday in the four-nation playoff.
This afternoon the Junior Jaguars will square off with the BVI and the team management will be looking for victory against a side that suffered a heavy loss to the Trinidadians.
A win for either Trinidad and Tobago or Suriname today will propel them team into the lead and a chance to advance to the next round.
Despite their current position Guyana must score heavily against the BVI and look to defeat Trinidad on Saturday.
Coach Sampson Gilbert is likely to retain the starting lineup which started against Suriname.
The team should include first match goal scorer Franklyn Parks, Paul Miggins, Trevor Jones, Troy Lewis, Shemar Richards, Jermaine Fletcher, Mark Wrong, Kareem Knights, Jason Cromwell, Keron Solomon and Steffon Enoe.
The Group winner will advance to the next round of the CFU qualifying competition.
The final round of CFU qualifiers will include the five qualifying group winners, as well as the top second-place team.
The top three teams from the qualifiers will advance to the CONCACAF Under-17 Championship, which will be held in Panama early next year.
Meantime, the top three teams from the Panama play-off will qualify for the Under-17 World Cup Finals, which will be held in the United Arab Emirates in summer next year.
