Michael Johnson, Golden Jaguars Head-Coach has tendered his resignation from the post effective August 13th and Brazilian Márcio Máximo has been appointed Interim Head-Coach for the 2019-2020 CONCACAF Nations League with effect from tomorrow.
Johnson, who was appointed to the post last June oversaw the team’s maiden qualification and campaign in the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
According to a press release from the Guyana Football Federation, Johnson’s replacement, Maximo, possesses over 30 years of knowledge at the national and club levels and is the holder of a CONMEBOL (South American Football Confederation) Pro License.
“To date, he has coached the Brazil National U17 and U20 teams (1992-1993), Qatar National U20 Team, Cayman Islands National Team (1999-2002), which resulted in Caribbean Cup and World Cup Qualification respectively and the Tanzania National Team (2006 – 2010), where they reached qualifiers for the World Cup – Germany and South Africa – and also qualified for the African Cup of Nations (African Nations Cup) for the first time ever. The coach has also worked with club teams across the world including Germany, Saudia Arabia, Costa Rica and Scotland (United Kingdom),” the release stated.
The new coach, who is expected to arrive in local shores next week, will reside in Guyana during his eight month period and will work with the local senior players.
He is also tasked with contributing to the national development programmes and coaching education initiatives.
At the end of the Nations League campaign, a performance evaluation will be conducted.
Presently, the federation has shortlisted a 31 member locally based provisional squad to begin preparation for the event.
They are Goalkeepers Akel Clarke, Sese Norville, Clive Matthews, Defenders Sherwin Skeete, Simeon Moore, Kevin Dundas, Omar Brewley, Raphael Edwards, Kevin Layne, Quincy Adams, Solomon Austin, Anson Lewis, William Europe, Shemar Fraser Midfielder Ryan Dowding, Leo Lovell, Franklin Parks, Daniel Wilson, Jahaal Greaves, Deon Charter, Ryan Hackett, Clive Nobrega, Pernel Shultz, Delwyn Fraser, Forwards Jamaal Pereira, Delroy Fraser, Jamal Haynes, Randolph Wagner, Donovan Francis and David Blake.
The Golden Jaguars will commence their League-B campaign in the CONCACAF Nations League September 6th away to Aruba in Curacao.
It will be the first of six matches for the 21st ranked Guyanese. Following their match-up with the 31st ranked Arubans, Guyana will host 6th ranked Jamaica on September 9th.
The second round of matches will be held in October, with Guyana travelling to the 22nd ranked Antigua and Barbuda unit on the 11th, before hosting the reverse fixture three days later.
The final round of matches will be held in November. Guyana will host Aruba on the 15th, before travelling to Jamaica three days later.
Winner of the group will advance to the League-A section of the competition subsequently.
