The Golden Jaguars, the Guyana men’s senior football program, has officially selected their playing squad for the impending 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, which is slated to be held on the island of St. Kitts and Nevis.
This was confirmed by an official release from the federation. According to the correspondence, Guyana’s squad reads: Goalkeepers – Akel Clarke, Kai McKenzie-Lyle, and Shawn Adonis; Defenders – Miguel Scarlett, Matthew Briggs, Liam Gordon, Terrence Vancooten, Nicholas Andrews, Bayli-Spencer Adams, and Kevin Layne; Midfielders – Nathan Morian-Welsh, Javier George, Daniel Wilson, Job Caesar, Marcus Wilson, and Pernell Schultz; and Forwards – Stephen Duke-McKenna, Keanu Marsh-Brown, Omari Glasgow, Kelsey Benjamin, Osafo Simpson, Trayon Bobb, and Emery Welshman.
Notable absentees from the squad are: long-serving captain Sam Cox, Anthony Jeffrey, Callum Harriott, Terrell Ondaan, and Neil Danns. Reasons for their exclusion were not given by the federation. Marcio Maximo, head-coach of the national setup declared, “My job is very clear – to qualify for the second round of FIFA World Cup qualifiers. I am confident in the players and the squad to deliver this.” He further stated, “The domestic group has been working very hard in our intensive training, and we are constantly tracking the performances of our non-domestic players. The aim for the non-domestic group is to raise the quality of the team by selecting players who are in full-time professional environments, such as Queens Park Rangers, Watford, Bournemouth, and Bolton, in England.”
Meanwhile, GFF President Wayne Forde opined, “We know that Guyana’s chances of qualification to round two rely on results elsewhere, but the Guyana Football Federation is confident that this new-look squad – with its strong mix of exciting domestic and overseas-based talent – will put serious pressure on the other teams as we head into the business end of the group.”
He further said, “We are delighted to see so many young players, who have graduated through the GFF’s Academy Training Centres and national youth programmes, making the grade and showing they can compete at the highest level as we build for the future. We ask the whole nation to stand up and roar with the Golden Jaguars in June as they seek to make Guyana proud and keep our FIFA World Cup dream alive.”
Guyana plays Saint Kitts and Nevis at 4 pm local time on June 4, and Puerto Rico at 4 pm local time on June 8t. Both will be staged in the Leeward Island nation.
Meanwhile, the management team is led by head-coach Marcio Maximo, with Charles Pollard and Eon DeVieira serving as Assistant and Goalkeeper Coach respectively.
Kojo Sandiford and Quacy Paddy are the team doctor and lead physiotherapist correspondingly, whilst Pablino Cupido, Wilson Toledo, and Faizal Khan, will serve as the team medic, head of sports science, and head of recruitment, respectively.
On the other hand, Rawle Adams, Naseya Brewster, Trevor Burnett, and Keeran Williams, are the team operations, assistant team operations, equipment, and media officer correspondingly.
The Golden Jaguars ended the first round of the qualifiers with a record of one win and a defeat, following an opening 3-0 loss to Caribbean heavyweight Trinidad and Tobago on March 25, and a 4-0 victory against lowly The Bahamas.
Presently, the Guyanese sit in third place on three points, trailing St. Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago who possess six and four points respectively. Only the group winner will progress to the second stage of the qualifiers.
