After touching down in Miami, USA on Wednesday at varying times, Guyana’s senior men’s national football team, the Golden Jaguars, engaged in their first training session yesterday afternoon at The Gardens North County District Park, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Head Coach Márcio Máximo along with assistants, Wilson Toledo, Charles `Lily’ Pollard and Wayne Dover took the players through their paces during a session that allowed the players to get back in the groove after a long day of travel from varying part across the globe. Máximo revealed that the session went well given the circumstances of long hours of travelling by the players but that the intensity will be back to its usual from today.
The team will also be engaged in two warm up matches as the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) seeks to ensure that the team is well prepared for the Guatemala hurdle come July 3.
“I think that the session is normal because some players coming from cold temperatures and some hot and it’s their first session after a long trip so I think they all reacted well considering the circumstances,” said Maximo.
The team’s leading tactician expressed satisfaction with the level of commitment being shown by his charges underscoring that this is the best team that is available, a mixture of young and exciting players along with some experience.
“They all have real desire to represent Guyana. They want to show something knowing that the times are very challenging but they are committed to the programme. We go to the pitch to compete, it’s a tough test but it’s good for us and important for our players. We will never give up, we will maintain the intensity and compete, this is our target.”
The warm up matches, set for today and Monday are very important according to Máximo who expressed gratitude on behalf of his team to GFF President Wayne Forde and his executive for the hard work they have been putting for the team.
He noted that the matches would allow the technical team the opportunity to use all the players they have here with a view of selecting the best for the immediate challenge ahead.
“Our main objective is for everybody to get some competitive playing time, I cannot use just one set of players in these matches, I need rotation to put everybody to play because against Guatemala, we would only have five subs so we have to give everyone the chance to get some competitive time in these matches to test them.”
