Guyana suffered the worst possible start to their CONCACAF Men’s Under-20 Championship, going down to Guatemala by an embarrassing 4-0 scoreline yesterday at the IMG Academy, Florida, USA.
Guyana’s starting XI for the clash, which featured six overseas- born and based players, consisted of Jonathan Vaughn, Ceceil Jackman, Bevan Baker, Lionel Holder, Ryan Hackett, Kwai Brown, Job Caesar, Jalen Case, Jamain Cumberbatch, Kelsey Benjamin and Thair Britton.
Golden Jaguars senior international Jeremy Garrett failed to start in the clash.
The Guyanese lads held firm for the opening 44 minutes, only for Rudy Barrientos to break the deadlock on the stroke of halftime, in a thoroughly lopsided period.
The aforementioned strike opened the proverbial floodgates, as Jose Ardon netted in the 53rd minute to double his side’s advantage.
Guatemala’s lead grew 11 minutes onward, as Nery Cifuentes etched his name on the scorer’s sheet. The scoreline was then completed in the 72nd minute, as Oscar Santis made his presence felt.
Overall, it was an all-round dominant performance from the Guatemalans, who recorded an impressive 17 shots on goal, six of which were on target and with one striking the woodwork.
On the other hand, the Guyanese only attempted an embarrassing one shot on goal, as they were encamped for the majority of the match in their half.
Guatemala monopolized 78 percent of the ball, with Guyana being relegated to 22 percent. This translated into nine corners and 17 interceptions [steals] for the victor, with only four fouls committed by the Central Americans.
On the other side, Guyana registered a solitary corner and four interceptions. This was complemented by a staggering 14 fouls committed.
In total, Guatemala attempted a mind-boggling 526 passes, with 483 being completed for an astonishing 92 percent rate of accuracy.
It was once again sad reading for Guyana in this category, as they attempted a meagre 91 passes, of which 65 were completed to end on a 71 percent accuracy rate.
Guyana will turn their attention to lowly Cayman Islands on November 6th. They will then oppose Curacao from 12:45hrs in the third matchup on N
ovember 8th, before concluding their group campaign on November 10th against El Salvador from 19:45hrs.
