Former Golden Jaguars head coach Wayne Dover is quietly optimistic of the team’s chances of progressing from the group stage in the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
In an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport, Dover said, “I am optimistic (about the team) progressing. Trinidad and Tobago, over the years, is one of our toughest opponents in football but once, we knocked them out of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers, and only recently as 2017, we drew with them. I think we have a chance with them. Panama, we played in a friendly in 2012 and competed despite losing 2-0.”
He further said, “However, Panama has risen and qualified for the World Cup and was competitive, but I am optimistic we can secure a positive result and given that our opening game (is) against the USA, we want to approach that game very cautiously but with an aim of getting a draw and then fancy our chances against the others to progress.”
The Golden Jaguars were drawn in Group D of the CONCACAF Gold Cup following the official draw on Wednesday in Los Angeles. Guyana will face heavyweights, the United States of America, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago. The tournament kicks off on June 15.
Guyana qualified for the prestigious continental tourney following a 2-1 victory over Belize in the final match of the CONCACAF Nations League Qualifier on March 23rd at the National Track and Field Centre, Leonora.
According to Dover, “No doubt it is quality opposition we will be facing. I will guard against us being very open and, to give us a chance to come out the group, we have to be compact and hit them on the counter because we have quick players on the wings and the forward line has to be potent.
“I think the draw when (it) was revealed, seeing Guyana being placed in Group D alongside USA, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago, (it) is one of the toughest groups and given the fact that football is played between 22 players, every team that enters has a chance to win, particularly if the preparation is good, application is right, and their execution is perfect. Once all those things are done in the correct manner and we convert our chances and make few mistakes, more than likely we could see ourselves getting good results,” he added.
The event will feature 16 clubs battling in an initial group stage consisting of four groups of four. The top two finishers from each group will advance to the knockout rounds.
Group A of the event will feature Mexico, Canada, Martinique and Cuba, while Group B will feature Costa Rica, Haiti, Nicaragua and Bermuda. Group C consists of Honduras, Jamaica, El Salvador and Curacao.
Fifteen venues in the USA will be utilised for the staging of the event, with Costa Rica and Jamaica also scheduled to host matches, a first in the competition’s history.
The National Stadium in San Jose will serve as the site for the Central American matches, with Independence Park in Kingston, Jamaica, the venue for the Caribbean matches.
According to CONCACAF, the winner of the Gold Cup will play against the USA – who are the defending champions following their 2017 triumph – in a one-match play-off fixture to decide the qualifying country to participate in the 2021 FIFA Confederations Cup.
In the event that the Americans secure their seventh title, they will automatically qualify for the Confederations Cup by virtue of being the 2017 and 2019 champions.
Mexico, who were winners of the 2015 edition, are the most successful team in the tournament’s history, with a record seven titles. Canada is the only other winner of the tournament, which it won in 2000.
