—Says Vurlon Mills
With the Concacaf Gold Cup draw penciled for today, former Golden Jaguars international and emerging coach Vurlon Mills, says traditional rival and Caribbean giant Trinidad and Tobago would be the ideal first round opponent for the preliminary section.
According to the central midfielder in an exclusive inter
view with Stabroek Sport, the historic rivalry and resulting familiarity with Trinidad and Tobago, would present Guyana with the ideal matchup in the first round of the qualifiers.
“I think Trinidad and Tobago would be the best draw for Guyana in the first round and that is because we are familiar with them, we know what they bring to the table and their style of play,” he declared.
“Given the number of times we have played them, they would be the best draw. I think they are in the rebuilding phase and will be adding new players to the roster and I think it’s our chance to capitalize on that even though they will select their best players,” he added.
According to Mills he favours the Golden Jaguars to get past the Soca Warriors.
“I think they are in a familiar situation to us and I believe that we could definitely get past them. If the draw is not Trinidad and Tobago, I think the next best draw would be Bermuda.”
Conversely, Mills noted that Haiti would be the worst possible draw for the Golden Jaguars due to their overall quality and pedigree. He also opined that Guatemala would also be a formidable adversary that could pose a threat to qualifying to the second round.
“Haiti will be the toughest draw for us, they would definitely be tough. We know what Haiti brings, they have the strength and the quality and if we were to be drawn against then, it would be a tough encounter but we would have to play. I think Guatemala would also be a bad draw for us.”
Guyana has been placed in Pot-1 of the preliminary draw alongside French Guiana, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, Montserrat and Bahamas. Meanwhile, the Pre-Seeded teams are Haiti, Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba, Guadeloupe and Bermuda. The preliminary round, which will be contested utilizing a direct elimination format, will be staged from July 2nd-6th in a centralized location in the United States. The main championship is scheduled for July 10th-August 1st.
The nations that have already qualified for the prestigious championship are Canada, Costa Rica, Curacao, El Salvador, Grenada, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, defending champion Mexico, Panama, Suriname and the United States. Qatar, the Asian Cup Champion of the Asian Football Confederation, will compete as a guest in the event, following a major collaboration between the two confederations.
According to Mills, the current format is much more difficult than the previous qualification setup, which initially pitted Guyana against Caribbean foe Barbados in the first round.
Guyana was initially pitted against Barbados in a home and away series following the initial official draw in December 2019. The winner of the matchup was scheduled to battle Trinidad and Tobago in the final qualifier. The format was initially altered due to the rescheduling of matches owing to the Covid-19 pandemic and the introduction of guest participant Qatar.
He added, “I think Barbados would have been the much easier matchup which was based on the previous draw, but now that the format has changed it’s going to be tougher to qualify. Given that it was a home-and-away series, the draw was easier but now it’s a new fixture and stronger opponents. I still think Guyana has a fair chance to qualify. We have two games to play, it’s going to be a challenge for us but I think we can still prevail and make the second Gold Cup appearance. We have to go out and give it our all.”
Mills also revealed that the current Covid-19 pandemic would have hindered the preparation and overall momentum of the team especially the locally based contingent.
“Guyana has momentum once we are playing, we have to keep focused on the first game and gain that needed momentum and result for the second match,” he said.
Asked about the approach that should be utilised by the Golden Jaguars in the tournament, he declared, “We need to approach it like any other knockout game, we have to select our strongest prepared team to win. The coach will have to deal with the tactics and will make the right decisions but we will have to select our best prepared team. We also have to be cognizant of whichever opponent we draw and the coach will need to have the necessary tactics. We lose a game and we are out, there is no second chance. We have to give it our all given that the game is on the day. We have to go out and play for 120 minutes.”
The Golden Jaguars made history in 2019 as the first senior men’s team from Guyana to qualify for the Gold Cup, finishing third in a tough group containing runners-up United States, Panama and Trinidad & Tobago.
