Bonofiglio confident ahead of Boys’ U17 Qualifiers

This Friday, Guyana’s national Under-17 team, the Junior Jags, will embark on an important journey, competing for a spot in the FIFA 2025 U17 World Cup.
Qualification for the global event will occur through the CONCACAF Qualifiers scheduled for February 7- 16, in countries across the Caribbean and Latin America.
As new Head Coach Marco Bonofiglio whipped his team into shape, he shared his thoughts on the side’s composition, noting that he has not seen much difference between the internationally- and locally-based players.
The Head Coach, in responding to questions about any disparity in the level between the internationally- and locally-based players, said: “To be honest with you, I’ve seen the complete opposite.”

“So, we’ve had some international players come in and gel in and blend in perfectly with the group. I can assure you of this, the 21 players that we’ve selected, they’re like a family, they’re all staying here on the grounds, they’ve blended with the coaching staff as well. I’ve seen a great, great Guyana family right now. It looks really good, I haven’t seen that disconnect yet, but I see a really good group going into Costa Rica,” Bonofiglio added.
Quizzed about Guyana’s lack of international friendly experience before such an important assignment and the likelihood of the players’ lack of international experience; Bonofiglio asserted that the work done in camp will compensate.
“Like I said, we’re always going to revert back to what we do in training, that’s the most important thing. We’re not going to worry about their experience or what they had in the past, I want to know that they enter this year’s camp with their minds clear of the objects that were set. That’s what we’re going to focus on mostly with Guyana,” the Head Coach shared.
“No, the most important thing is that the staff collected the right data to work on and I think we’ve been doing a fine job. I think the staff that I’m working with is fantastic, we’ve been working around the clock so, as along as I’ve been here the last two weeks, I’ve been working around the clock to have that material and moving forward we’re just going to stick to those objectives that we have and work on those things and try to be a hundred percent active in the things that we’ve set out to do.”
As such, the Head Coach expressed faith in the work they were executing in the national camp, assuring that they would be ready for the challenge.
“Up until this point right now, I think the team has done exceptionally well, but the next few days are very critical. So, if I can say this, as of right now, the team is in the right direction and I think we’ll have the team ready to fight against Trinidad and Tobago and have a good outing in the Costa Rica qualifiers,” a confident Coach Bonofiglio shared.
Guyana are in Group B alongside hosts Costa Rica, Trinidad & Tobago, British Virgin Islands and Sint Maarten. With eight groups in the competition, each of the group winners will book their ticket to the FIFA U17 World Cup later this year.
Guyana will come up against Trinidad and Tobago first in the qualifiers on Friday, February 7.