Following his unexpected appointment to the helm of the Golden Jaguars senior coaching position, Brazilian Márcio Máximo was officially unveiled yesterday by the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) at the National Training Center, Providence.
Speaking to media operatives Maximo said, “I am very happy to be here in Guyana, like the President (Wayne Forde) said, I saw a lot of potential here especially with youth players. We know the potential here but we need to develop and create the chance for the youth players to play to open up international market for us. It does not make sense if you don’t go down this line.”
Máximo was appointed Interim Head-Coach for the 2019-2020 CONCACAF Nations League effective August 21st, after incumbent Michael Johnson officially tendered his resignation from the post effective of August 13th.
According to a release from the federation, 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.
According to Maximo, “I followed the youth programmes here, the coaches and the TD. I am very happy with what I saw. When Mr. Forde invited me to take the job he was very clear that we should open new opportunities for our youth and local players.”
He added, “You can’t depend only on the foreign players. Of course the foreign players are very important for us because they open markets for our local players but not only that, you should create system that you can use our youth players as well and open another door for them.”
Asked about his expectations for the upcoming tournament, Maximo said: “I think it’s a medium term to long term programme. The competition will be tough for us.We studied videos already and we know some of the players and we have three days there to implement something, to add something. We can’t change so much in three days but anytime you go to competition you expect to win but you should be realistic as well.”
The former Tanzania Head-coach continued, “You should understand that it’s not easy, you should create step-by-step condition to be a great team to be a solid team in Caribbean. We go to the games with optimism and positive energy. We go to create conditions to be a winning team in medium to long term.”
Questioned about the possible composition of the squad for the opening match, he disclosed that the team will feature a mixture of local and foreign based players, adding, “Gradually you should put more youth players, more local players but with equal percent. That is our objective. The local players don’t have experience the foreign players have so you should have balance between the local players and the foreign players to prepare a good national team.”
He declared that foreign players should face challenges in their attempts to make the team noting, “It’s not because you are foreign players that you have a guaranteed seat, it should be a challenge for youth, local and foreign players.”
According to Maximo, he envisions leaving a legacy which will create conditions to develop players and build and create a style and brand of football that is synonymous with the country.
Meanwhile, GFF President Wayne Forde said, “We felt it best to give him a few days on the ground so he can have some positive information in terms of the work he is expected to do over the next couple of weeks, months and hopefully years.
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 occur 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 then occur during the month of November. Guyana will host Aruba on the 15th, before traveling to Jamaica three days later.
Winner of the group will advance to the League-A section of the competition in the subsequent edition.
