The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) has shortlisted 60 local players to commence training at the National Training Centre, Providence, for the impending CONCACAF Men’s U20 Championships, which is slated to be hosted in Nicaragua from February 15th-23rd.
The shortlisted players will form the provisional local squad and will be whittled down ahead of the final selection for the championship. The players are Goalkeepers Sean Adonis, Ronaldo Blair, Simeon Hackette, Reon Jones and Tony Ogle; Defenders Junior Adams, Nicholai Andrews, Kerry Baker, Albert Campbell, Jeffrey Charles, Neville Cheong, Tyrone David, Joseph DeFreitas, Kenrick Dover, Rickford Emmanuel, Vivian Felix, Prince Ford, Shawn Gilbert, Omari Nkosi Glasgow, Corvin Griffith, Leon Hope, Anthony Ifill, Bevney Marks, Eric Moore and Eric Sampson; Midfielders Atua Austin, Ravon Bailey, Ronaldo Felix, Donell France, Jermaine Garrett, Dorwin George, Michael George, Jemar Harrigon, Joel Isaacs, Joseph Jeffrey, Keanu Lawrence, Joshua Liverpool, Akeemo Marks, Andrew Mayers, Nicholas MacArthur, Darron Niles, Devon Padmore, Threvon Pluck, Shannon Samnauth, Troni Semple, Osafa Simpson and William Vaughn Jagmohan; and Forwards Kadeem Agard, Sekou Agard, Dan Arthur, Kemule Batson, Kevin Charles, Javier George, Julius Hamilton, Hazlewood Hutson, Cleavon Murray, Jermain Padmore, Junior Ravi, Osafo Simpson and Shemar Welch.
Guyana will open their Group A campaign against Montserrat on February 15th at the Estadio de Nacional de Futbol from 16:30hrs. In their second fixture, Guyana will oppose St Vincent and the Grenadines two days later at the same venue from 16:30hrs. This will be followed by an encounter with the US Virgin Islands on February 21st from 20:30hrs. In their final showdown, Guyana will battle the host nation on February 23rd at 20:30hrs.
In their previous outing in the CONCACAF U20 Championship in 2018, Guyana ended with a record of one win [against El Salvador] and three losses [to Guatemala, Curacao and Cayman Islands].
The qualifying round of the event features 17 teams divided into four groups. One group will comprise five teams. The top finisher from each group will advance to the knockout round. The other groups are Group B: Dominican Republic, Grenada, Dominica and Anguilla; Group C: Curacao, Guadeloupe, Belize and Saint Martin and; Group D: Bermuda, Puerto Rico, Cayman Islands and Barbados.
Meanwhile, the remaining 16 teams have been divided into four groups of four in the second round section. The groups are Group E: United States, Costa Rica, Jamaica and Saint Kitts and Nevis; Group F: Mexico, El Salvador, Canada and Aruba; Group G: Panama, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname and; Group H: Honduras, Cuba, Guatemala and Antigua and Barbuda.
The top three finishers from the second round division will progress to the knockout round. According to CONCACAF, “the final stage of the competition (round of 16, quarterfinal, semifinal and final) will be played in a single match elimination format, with the semifinalists qualifying to the FIFA U20 World Cup Indonesia 2021.”
