Forgettable debut!

The Golden Jaguars had a forgettable debut in the CONCACAF Gold Cup on Tuesday, going down to host nation and defending champion USA by a 4-0 scoreline at the Allianz Field in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The numbers, according to the official CONCACAF statistical website, don’t make for notable reading for the boys from the Land of Many Waters in what was the first ever competitive meeting with the USA.

The Golden Jaguars tallied a total four shots, with only one on target. On the opposite side, USA accumulated 16 attempts with eight shots finding its intended destination.

In terms of possession, Guyana recorded 42%. This translated to 271 completed passes after attempting 294 for a conversion rate of 92%.

On the other hand, the defending champion recorded 58% possession, with 410 passes finding their mark from 467 attempted for a rate of 88%.  

Guyana’s starting XI consisted of Akel Clarke [GK], Jordan Dover, Vancooten, Matthew Briggs, Liam Gordon, Neil Danns, Brandon Beresford, Elliot Bonds, Emery Welshman, Keanu Marsh-Brown and Callum Harriott.

Making substitute appearances were Anthony Jeffrey for Beresford in the 58th minute, Sam Cox for Marsh-Brown in the 73rd minute and Sheldon Holder for Danns in the 85th minute.

Paul Arriola commenced the rout in the 28th, racing into the left side of the box to latch onto a pass which took a slight deflection off the defender, before curling his right foot shot into the far corner.

This scoreline would remain unchanged heading into the halftime interval, as the Americans were guilty of spurning several opportunities.

This would be corrected in the second half, as USA recorded three unanswered goals. Tyler Boyd doubled their lead in the 52nd minute, with a powerful right foot effort into the lower left corner from inside the right of the area, after latching onto a lobbed pass from Michael Bradley.

USA increased their advantage once more, this time under fortuitous circumstances, as Gyasi Zardes scored in the 56th minute. Though unexpected, the conversion was deserved due to the narrative of the clash, as an attempted headed clearance from Vancooten following an initial shot from Arriola struck the head of Zardes and settled into the back of the net.

On the other side, Guyana’s best effort occurred in the second period, as Marsh-Brown fired a powerful effort straight at the goalkeeper in the 66th minute.

The scoreline would eventually be sealed in the 81st, as Boyd secured his double. Another deflection would lead to the conversion, as a powerful shot from just outside the box took a deflection off Briggs, wrong-footing the goalkeeper Clarke and nestling into the net.

Meanwhile, Head-coach Michael Johnson in the post-match press conference said,

“To be competitive in that fixture for the best part of an hour, we should be proud. Nobody in my opinion had a horrible game, yes, there were mistakes but you’re going to get that against a top-class United States team. Was that our best possible starting X1? That’s what we as staff sat down and spoke about, that’s our starting eleven and that’s what we went with, that’s what we believe in, that’s what we trusted; all 23 of the team and anyone of this 23 for me deserves a place to start.”

He added, “We’ve gained a lot of confidence from tonight (Tuesday), yes there were individual errors but as a team, we speak about how we look dangerous with Callum Harriott at times, we look dangerous with Emery Welshman. We were under no illusions about the task tonight, we’re probably a little bit more realistic going into the next two games.”

Johnson singled out Terrence Vancooten as his choice for player of the match, adding, “He tackled, passed the ball incredibly well, very good upstairs against tough opposition as I’ve said and I thought he was outstanding; he really, really was.”

The Golden Jaguars will tackle Panama in their second match-up on June 22nd in Cleveland, Ohio, before concluding their group campaign against traditional rival Trinidad and Tobago on June 26th in Kansas City, Missouri.