21-member Junior Jags team named for U-20 qualifiers

After weeks of preparation, Guyana’s National Under-20 Men’s roster has been revealed, in anticipation of the commencement of The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) U-20 Qualifiers campaign next Tuesday.
Guyana is in Group D of the qualifiers alongside hosts Curacao, Haiti, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Anguilla.

As such, the National U20 team reads:
Goalkeepers – Emmanuel Lewis, Nijar Tejpal, and Jermine Mitchell
Defenders – Walker Shabazz-Edwards, Troy Andrews, Jaden Thom, Candel Hazel, Michael Joseph, and Max Robinson
Midfielders – Isaiah Ifill, Shaquan David, Jamal Fraser, Luke Langevine, Mateo Clarke, and Mark Phillips
Forwards – Sheldon Kendall, Reiss Parris, Quancey Fraser, Bryan Wharton, Jaden Harris, and Dakari Drakes
Discussing the team’s composition and chances earlier this week, Head Coach Thomas Dooley spoke of his troops as underdogs against two formidable opponents.

“It should be the motivation; it should be the opposite for them,” Dooley responded to whether or not his team would be intimidated by the “big names” in their group.
“Because of this, they should get some power, saying, ‘Oh, we qualified for the World Cup, we have a great technical staff, we have the great future players training like that,’ and that could be a chance for us. They’re underestimating us maybe, and I like to be the underdog.”
The gaffer went on to explain, “Normally we can’t win; they’re playing at home, they have 6-7 international players from Europe playing at a higher level, they’ve qualified for the World Cup, and we are just Guyana. So, if we go in, we go after them right from the start; we’re going to win this game, we’re going to win the 50/50 ball, and we’re looking for our passing, which needs to be good. From the first minute, let them know that we are here.”
“In football, there’s a rule that if you underestimate that team from the beginning, I mean really underestimate, you cannot change your mindset anymore. ‘Oh, let’s start now; we’re fighting.’ They can’t; it’s very hard to change that. That would be our chance to beat those teams,” Dooley confidently declared.
The Junior Golden Jags will take on Curacao first on Tuesday, February 24, before turning their attention to Anguilla on Saturday, February 28.
The Guyanese team will need to finish at the top of their group in order to secure a spot at the CONCACAF U-20 Championships later this year.