Golden Jaguars U20 men’s head-coach Wayne Dover said yesterday that 45 players have been shortlisted following the conclusion of phase one of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) talent identification programme, which was held at the National Training Centre, Providence.
During an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport yesterday, Dover said, “Today approximately 15 players were identified. We were satisfied that they demonstrated the characteristics of technical ability, tactical awareness and good decision making. Now the pool has 45 players at the end of the first phase.”
According to Dover, they are looking at a pool of 60 players to operate with.
“So, as this phase finishes, we will start the second phase to get the pool of 60 players and then begin to reduce the squad,” he declared.
The GFF commenced its talent ID programme to scout for players in preparation for the 2022 Concacaf men’s U20 Championship Qualifiers in November.
A talent ID leg will also take place in the United States of America from September 24th-26th.
Saturday’s first day featured players from Georgetown, East Bank, West Demerara and East Coast Demerara associations, while yesterday saw players from Berbice, Bartica, Essequibo/Pomeroon and the Upper Demerara Football associations.
“Attendance was massive again, it was a good turnout. Saturday was bigger and we saw slight differences in the nature of the competitiveness but no doubt the lads that shaped up today [yesterday] did enough to impress. That gives us a good opportunity to arrive at a pool that is satisfying from this exercise. The difference was not really the quality, the difference was in intensity. Some of the players seemed more energetic and that is because of the lack of playing.”
Asked about his expectation of the second phase, which will target the hinterland players, Dover said, “We always know that the hinterland areas have hidden talent and this will give us an opportunity to tap into that talent and our expectation is to come away with a number of players who could form the first phase of the preparation heading into the main part.
“We still have the North American phase, and given what we have seen so far, once players are identified we will integrate them with the squad. It’s an ongoing process to arrive at the best possible squad, he declared.
