Guyana’s dismal campaign in the CONCACAF U17 Football Championship has once again called into question the direction of the nation’s youth programme, effectively placing the proverbial microscope on the entity’s developmental department.
The Golden Jaguars had a tournament to forget, losing three consecutive matches by comfortable margins in group-C. The numbers make for embarrassing reading, 13 goals conceded in three fixtures, with the cherry on top being no goals scored.
A total of five shots were on target following 13 attempts. Also, 444 passes were completed after trying 532.
This is evident by a 4-0 loss to El Salvador, which commenced the disastrous tour, with a 3-0 loss to Honduras occurring in the second match. A 6-0 whipping incurred at the hands of Haiti effectively summed up Guyana’s depressing showing.
While criticism must be measured given the little expectations of the team heading into the tournament, the final analysis of the team’s eventual productivity is nothing short of humiliating.
Simply put, the aforementioned display was the worst in the entire tournament, lagging behind the likes of fellow strugglers Suriname, Bermuda and Barbados.
The numbers for the aforesaid trio paint a similar picture. Suriname scored two goals and conceded 10, while completing 510 out of 602 passes in their three matches. They also recorded nine shots on target out of 24 attempted.
Barbados was a similar narrative, two goals scored and 11 conceded highlighted by seven shots on target from 18 attempts. In terms of the passing statistic, 387 completed from 434 attempts.
On the other hand, Bermuda tallied three conversions while conceding 12 goals. 30 shots were attempted by their offence, with 10 on target. The Bermudians attempted 625 passes and completed 559.
The stark reality is that questions need to be asked of the team’s preparation for the campaign. Why wasn’t the NAMILCO U17 Championship, the highly touted flagship event of that age group, not staged weeks before the ill-fated campaign to serve as much needed match practice and preparation for the players?
Is this a measure of the future of Guyana’s footballing aspirations especially for the local content? Are the local developmental programs instituted by this administration under the watchful eye of Technical Director Ian Greenwood working?
Based on the performances of the team, which were televised for public consumption, the answer is no.
The GFF is already faced with the failure of its senior leagues and farfetched developmental plans, and now with the abject showing of the much touted U17 level, the future of Guyana footballing existence will certainly revolve around a foreign initiative.
One almost forgot that Guyana is currently in that phase of development. The word perspective continues to be lost in translation. Mediocrity has officially become ingrained in our footballing psyche. Has an enquiry been launched into the reasons for the team’s poor showing?
How can a national programme enter a tournament and finish statistically at the bottom of the ladder in the two most important categories, when smaller nations despite their struggles, displayed some semblance of quality against arguably better opposition.
What about the much glorified Academy Training Centers, an initiative which was launched amid much pageantry in February 2017 and was seen as the platform to develop and guide players in a structured manner into the national grid from the youth levels.
Is this platform even active in the many associations, functioning and achieving its mandate? After all, queries must be posed as to why we are not producing quality players that can compete. Not individuals who seem devoid of technical ability and tactical acumen during the event.
The team’s display is a reflection of their development or lack thereof and raises questions about our coaching structure and developmental vision, initiatives charted by our photogenic administration.
As customary, this incident will simply be swept under the rug like most of the controversies that plague the federation whose aim is simply to portray a sporting landscape that is flourishing.
After all the GFF has not staged a press conference to discuss and share their thoughts on the performance of the team and simply acts like the tournament did not occur.
Where are the self-proclaimed pundits and keyboard analysts who have severely criticized previous administrations for the dismal efforts of their national programmes? I guess our junior teams tours have now become glorified vacations.
