The Golden Jaguars began their Concacaf U17 Men’s Qualifying Championship in the worst possible manner, suffering an embarrassing 2-4 loss to lowly Bonaire yesterday at the IMG Facility in Bradenton, Florida, USA.
Guyana’s starting XI for the match comprised: Duqain Samuels, Shakeel Welcome, Swade Edwards, Gerry Burnette, Seon Cato, Kvist Paul, Omar Sam, Noah Kissoon, Matrim Martin, Andre Nelson, and Bryan Wharton.
The Golden Jaguars, who are the second seed in Group-A, led the contest 1-0 at the halftime break, only to concede four goals in the second period to suffer the unlikely result against the fourth seeded Bonaire unit.
Burnette gave Guyana the lead in the 38th minute, an advantage which lasted until the 49th minute, as an own goal levelled the contest at 1-1. Martin pushed Guyana into a 2-1 lead with a 52nd minute conversion.
However, three unanswered goals sealed the victory for Bonaire. Mervin Dishmey restored parity to proceedings in the 58th minute, before Freadyen Michiel handed Bonaire a 3-2 advantage compliments of a 70th minute strike. The comeback win was then sealed in the 88th minute via a Rhiordan Piar goal.
They will now oppose The Bahamas tomorrow at 11:00am before locking horns with Saint Martin on the 3rd from 9:00am. Then on the 5th at 9:00am, Guyana will tackle the British Virgin Islands, before concluding their campaign against Bermuda on the 7th at 11:00am.
Group-B comprises Anguilla, Aruba, Martinique, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands, while Group-C contains the Cayman Islands, Dominica, Dominican Republic, and Saint Kitts and Nevis. Group-D features Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Nicaragua, and Turks and Caicos Islands.
The respective winners from the aforementioned groups, will progress to the 2023 CONCACAF U17 Men’s Championship in Guatemala.
