With Guyana’s path to the 2021 Gold Cup confirmed, former Golden Jaguars midfield dynamo Vurlon Mills, opined that Guatemala is not an ideal matchup in the first round of the continental qualifiers and is wary of the threat posed by the impending foe.
This was disclosed during an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport yesterday. According to Mills, 32, “I don’t think it was the draw we were looking for or the ideal draw in the first round for Guyana. Guatemala is one of the toughest teams in the group.”
He further said, “Despite the results in their previous practice matches, the fact still remains that they are active and preparing as a team going into the Gold Cup qualifiers. They will be better prepared going into the competition but Guyana still has to go out and give it their all.”
Guyana was drawn against the Central Americans following the inaugural CONCACAF draw on September 28th. If successful against the 130th ranked Guatemalans, the Guyanese, who are positioned 166th on the FIFA ladder, will oppose the winner of the Guadeloupe and The Bahamas encounter in the second qualifier. The victor in the second qualifier will progress to group-C. 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.
According to the Fruta Conquerors talisman, despite Guyana’s poor international record against Central American opposition, the Golden Jaguars can prevail against the historical handicap through quality preparation and utilizing the past as a tool for motivation.
He opined, “I wouldn’t say it’s a factor necessarily, every game is different we know what they bring and have to prepare for that. I don’t think it’s a factor, we don’t have an enviable record against them, the results speak for themselves but I don’t think that should be a factor against us but should be used as motivation. Guyana just needs to play the type of football we were playing in the previous games. I think Guyana should get together as soon as we can so we can start preparing as a team and even though there are players active, it will take time to be playing well as a team.”
Mills added, “I know they (Guatemala) will be confident coming up against Guyana but once we play our game and stick to the tactics we can clinch the result. However I know that Guatemala will be coming all out to get the win.”
Guyana are yet to record a victory against Guatemala following two losses in as many matches. The Guyanese went down 3-0 in their first encounter before losing 2-0 in the second encounter. Overall, the Golden Jaguars possess an undesirable record against Central American teams, recording two wins, 10 losses and a solitary draw. In the aforementioned period, Guyana tallied 11 goals while conceding a miserable 39.
Mills further noted that the current COVID-19 health crisis certainly hinders the Golden Jaguars’ preparatory phase, noting that if the situation does not improve, Guyana runs the risk of being under prepared for the Guatemalans. He added that local players could be a major casualty if the health crisis persists unabated.
He elaborated, “If the current situation doesn’t change, if we are not able to begin preparation in February and at the latest in March due to the current health situation, then we run the risk of being under prepared for Guatemala. We need three months to properly prepare given what is happening and at minimum 6-8 weeks, which is a preseason window period where we can train hard and play practice matches. We have to start preparing at the latest in March. The local players need to do their own personal training because they will be at a severe disadvantage if the situation doesn’t change and for the team to be selected.”
