The Golden Jaguars battled to a 2-2 draw with Rio de Janeiro state side, Grêmio Mangaratibense of Mangaratiba, in their first practice match of the “Train and Play” Brazilian Tour on Tuesday.
Staged at the Estadio Municipal Jose Maria De Brito Barros Ground, the home side took the lead following a scoreless opening half. The Golden Jaguars responded through a Jake Newton header, following a Vurlon Mills corner kick.
Job Caesar then gave the Jaguars the lead, pouncing on a loose ball from the goalkeeper and finishing into the empty net. However, the Guyanese were denied the win, as the host quickly equalised.
According to a media release from the Guyana Football Federation [GFF], Head Coach, Michael Johnson was quoted as saying, “We learnt a lot about the players in the match, the team formation and the way we want to play moving forward. It was really good for us to get a look at the players in a competitive fixture of what our 23 is like.
“The match was recorded and reviewed by Asser Carel and Donavon Lutu, the Performance Analyst & Head Scout, to determine the areas of excellence and those, which require more work.”
Meanwhile, Technical Director Ian Greenwood was quoted as saying, “We saw a few bits of good inter-play in the middle third; some of the younger boys did well. Job Caesar offered a lot of energy when he came on so it’s good to see this crop of players but ultimately, it was down to the coaches to see where we are; we’ve got a lot of work to do ahead of September especially in the final third, we need a lot more quality there.”
Founded on January 21st 2009, as a replacement for the dissolved Grêmio Olímpico Mangaratiba, the club made its first appearance in the Campeonato Carioca Série-C [second level of the Rio de Janeiro State First Division] in 2010. It achieved promotion to Série-B in 2013, after finishing fourth.
The Guyanese squad is on a historic camp ahead of the kick-off of the CONCACAF Nations League on September 6th against Barbados at the National Track and Field Centre at Leonora, at 19:00hrs.
