Golden Jaguars senior men’s captain Matthew Briggs, expressed disappointment at the team’s elimination from the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup Preliminary stage at the hands of Central American unit Guatemala on Saturday evening at the DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Briggs, who recently replaced long-serving captain Sam Cox, was speaking to media operatives at the conclusion of the first round of the 2021 Gold Cup Preliminary section. According to Briggs, the unfortunate setback of losing a player in the dying minutes of the first half to a red card, made it very difficult for the team to fashion any positive outcome.
Briggs during brief remarks explained, “It’s always difficult when you go down to 10 men, the boys just ran out of steam in the second half which obviously led us to dropping too deep and getting two three four goals.”
Midfielder Keanu Marsh-Brown was red carded in the 40th minute for a reckless boot to the head of his opposing number, forcing Guyana to play the remaining 50 minutes with 10 men.
Asked what can be taken from the team’s performance, the Denmark based versatile defender affirmed, “I am proud of the team, I think we gave everything we could today. It’s just unfortunate that we went down to 10 men.”
The Guatemalans maintained their perfect record against the Guyanese as they coasted to a 4-0 win in the first round of the 2021 Gold Cup Preliminary round.
Guyana’s starting XI for the lopsided contest consisted of Kai McKenzie-Lyle, Matthew Briggs, Terrence Vancooten, Reiss Greenidge, Nicholai Andrews, Job Caesar, Nathan Moriah-Welsh, Daniel Wilson, Keanu Marsh-Brown, Stephen Duke-McKenna and Emery Welshman. The locally based contingent of the team is expected to return to local shores shortly.
The Golden Jaguars recorded their maiden appearance in the 2019 edition. The Guyanese finished third in their pool, following a record of two losses and a draw. Guyana went down to hosts and eventual runner-up the United States 4-0, before going down to Panama 4-2. In their final match, the Golden Jaguars drew 1-1 with Trinidad & Tobago.
