History will be created on Sunday May 15th as CONCACAF powerhouse and FIFA 87th ranked Canada will play Guyana in the first ever international friendly at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.
Slated to be part of the upcoming celebration of Guyana’s 50th Independence Anniversary Jubilee, the match which will kick off at 19:00hrs will be the first ever meeting with a North American nation on local shores.
Guyana-born, Canadian Football Hall of Famer Alex Bunbury during brief remarks via a release said “This is such a big development and something I have been working on for a couple months. This is only the beginning. I want to thank Victor Montagliani: the president of the Canadian Soccer Association, (Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana) Mr. Pierre Giroux and (Guyana Football Federation President) Mr. Wayne Forde for their collaboration in making this at all possible”.
According to the release “I promised the Guyanese people that I will do all I can to help elevate the game. This is a wonderful start and God willing more of this to come in the near future working alongside Mr. Forde, the GFF staff and Association Members. I also would like to thank Ms. Nicolette Henry and Mr. Christopher Jones for their interest and support and last but definitely not least Mr. Joe Harmon as well”.
“It’s amazing what can be done with collaboration and respect when we put our ego aside for betterment of our country”, it concluded
Meanwhile, Guyana following their recent exploits moved to 133rd on the world ladder, 23 places up from their previous position following wins over Anguilla and Puerto Rico in Round-1 of the Caribbean Football Union 2016 Caribbean Cup Qualifiers staged in Guyana and Puerto Rico on 22nd and 29th March respectively
Commenting on the Golden Jaguars’ rise on the world rankings, Forde in a press release said “I’m indeed very happy and exceptionally proud of the players, the coaching staff and the management team for the tremendous work they’ve been doing with that team. The senior males team represents a brand and it’s a brand that the Executive Committee of the Guyana Football Federation will manage very carefully”.
He further said “We believe that is the brand that will position Guyana on the international stage to our rightful place so I want to encourage the nation to join me in extending a heartfelt thank you to the guys for putting in the hard work that they have over the past three international engagements and to encourage them to strive to do better as we go forward in the Caribbean Football Union’s Scotiabank Caribbean Cup.”
Guyana’s next engagement in the Caribbean Football Union’s Caribbean Cup Qualifiers is in June against Curacao, followed by the United States Virgin Islands.
