Golden Jaguars and Philadelphia Union midfielder Warren Creavalle has been officially ruled out of the CONCACAF Gold Cup following a broken leg, with Brandon Beresford named as his replacement for the event which is slated to commence on June 18th.
This was disclosed by the GFF in a press release. Creavalle suffered a broken leg during the training session in Bermuda before Guyana’s international friendly against the host nation.
He is expected to be out of action for four to six weeks following a medical assessment. According to the release, Guyana’s Head Coach, Michael Johnson revealed that the entire team is saddened by the unfortunate incident, adding that Creavalle was a key reason why Guyana defeated Belize to secure a berth in the Gold Cup.
He added, “When he came on we got back the control of the game, he is a clever player and uses the ball very, very well, puts his body into some terrific positions; we’ll miss that sort of experience with somebody who understands the MLS. Playing in America as well and going up against the Americans could have given us so much insight, so it’s a big, big loss for us and him because these tournament do not come around very often for Guyana.”
Johnson further said, “Our thoughts and prayers are with him, the most important thing is that he recovers well enough and maintains his club career with the Philadelphia union.”
According to tournament rules, “Injury-related changes will be allowed to the final 23-player rosters for the Group Stage until 24 hours before each team’s first match. Any injury replacements must come from the announced preliminary 40-player rosters and must be approved by Concacaf.”
Speaking on the selection of Beresford, Johnson said, “Brandon is someone we know very well, particularly from early on in my tenure when he came and played very well against Barbados and he’s been in other camps as well; so we knew what’s he is capable of. So there was an obvious standout candidate when we knew that Warren would be struggling to come back to the camp and it was Brandon.”
Meanwhile Beresford said, “It’s a surreal experience still, being involved with Guyana for the past nine years, it’s had its ups and downs and I’ve seen what it’s like from the youth level, U-20, 23 and I’m glad to experience all of that. I’m so extremely blessed to be a part of this and have been able to be a part of it for the past nine years; it’s a blessing, it’s still pretty unbelievable and I will be giving 100% plus.”
The Golden Jaguars arrived in St. Paul, Minnesota for their opening group-D encounter against defending champion USA on June 18th.
They will then oppose Panama on June 22nd in Cleveland, Ohio for their second fixture before ending the group round on June 26th in Kansas City, Missouri against traditional rival Trinidad and Tobago.
