De Rosario hattrick powers Golden Jags into Gold Cup prelims

…Golden Jaguars to face Guatemala in March

Guyana’s senior men’s national football team, the Golden Jaguars, are set to feature in their third CONCACAF Gold Cup Preliminaries next March, after ending their two-match home and away Play-In series against Barbados in the 2024/ 2025 CONCACAF Nations League with a 9-4 aggregate, by which they clinched a spot in next year’s Gold Cup Preliminaries.
The nail-biting return match, hosted at the National Track and Field Center (NTFC) on the West Coast of Demerara (WCD), produced both highs and lows for the Golden Jaguars, who were met with a fighting Barbados opposition.

Head Coach Wayne Dover opted for a starting XI that read: Captain Daniel Wilson, Goal Keeper Quillan Roberts, Reiss Greenidge, Jalen Jones, Liam Gordon, Leo Lovell, Curtez Kellman, Nathan Moriah-Welsh, Isaiah Jones, Osaze De Rosario and Omari Glasgow.
Barbados looked a more composed outfit than on Friday last, and they managed to hold off the Guyanese for almost half of the first segment. However, Guyana was slowly building momentum with a few near misses between the 20th and 25th minutes. Then a Moriah-Welsh service from the corner met with Jalen Jones’s head before Osaze De Rosario added the finishing touches with another butt for Guyana’s first goal in the 26th minute.
In the 41st minute of the game, De Rosario capitalized on an ill-controlled ball from a Barbadian midfielder, as he sprinted forward to beat the defense and the keeper with a left-footed shot into the back of the net.
De Rosario completed his hattrick in the 45th+1 with another header from a Moriah- Welsh freekick, to hand Guyana a 3-0 lead at the half.

However, fireworks flew in the second segment, and what had hitherto been a one-sided affair came dangerously close to being a balanced one when Thierry Gale of Barbados opened the segment with a strike in the 49th minute by
sprinting past Guyana’s Leo Lovell to tuck the ball in.
But while the Barbadians celebrated pulling one back, the Guyanese players raised their hands to appeal that the goal was offside without being called.

Then Omari Glasgow gave Guyana another 3-goal cushion by tucking a well-placed set piece into the corner of the net in the 57th minute; but
Niall Reid-Stephen and Gale returned in the 63rd and 67th minutes to give Barbados hope with back-to-back goals.
First Reid-Stephen found himself on the winning side of a 1vs1 against Guyana’s Liam Gordon, pulling off a cut shot to secure the goal. Then, 4 minutes later, Gale sent from outside of the 18-yard box a rocket shot into the back of the nets, and Quillan Roberts could not get his hand on it.
Nevertheless, the Guyanese held on, and after a few close calls in the dying minutes of the contest, Isaiah Jones set the cherry on top of the proverbial cake as Barbados conceded an own goal in the 90th+4 for the 5-3 result.
In a post-match interview, De Rosario shared thoughts on his hattrick and current role in the Golden Jags’ setup by disclosing, “It feels good just showing my talent. Given the opportunity, I take it; so, it’s obviously a great feeling to get a hattrick.”
The forward added, “Guyana has a lot of talented players. I have to give respect to the players on the pitch like, you know, the prolific Omari and the newcomer Isaiah. These are quality attackers, so bringing my talent to the attack is a push forward in the right direction.”
In discussing Guyana’s performance, Coach Dover admitted that he would have appreciated conceding less goals.
“We would’ve liked to have a 9-0 aggregate, but, of course, we didn’t play with ourselves, we played against a very competitive outfit. And, you know, there’s no room for errors, and we show where there’s a lot of work to be done defensively in our organisation, in our pressing to the ball generally in transition,” Dover related.
The Golden Jaguars have now qualified for the CONCACAF Gold Cup Preliminaries, and are scheduled to take on Guatemala in March 2025. The draw was arrived at by CONCACAF who placed together the CONCACAF Nations League Quarterfinal losing teams, League A Group Stage third- place finishers, League A Group stage fourth-place finishers, League B two best second-place finishers and the four teams who won their Play-In series.
The teams were then arranged 1-14 based on their latest CONCACAF rankings, and then seeded with the highest team facing the lowest team (1 vs 14, 2 vs 13, 3 vs 12, etc).
In March, the teams will compete in the home and away format, with the winner advancing to the Gold Cup Group Stage.
(Jemima Holmes)