Guyana’s senior men’s national football team, the Golden Jaguars, will today lock horns with Guadeloupe’s Les Gwada Boys for a chance to compete in their second-ever CONCACAF Gold Cup group stage.
Following a thrilling victory over Grenada on Saturday last, the Golden Jags are now one win away from sealing a spot in Group D of the Gold Cup’s main draw.
Without a doubt, a victory today for the national team would mean a lot to the players and the nation, as described by the team’s Assistant Coach, Wayne Dover after their opening win against the Spice Boys.
Dover reasoned, “Well, I think this means a lot for the group and the country by extension, because we have been knocking on the door for the last two years to get into the final stage of the Gold Cup and we take one step closer. We gotta ensure we keep our foot on the ground; ensure we keep the guys them on earth so that we could go back to the second game, get a victory and go through to the second stage of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.”
Guadeloupe, in their first qualifier match last Friday, defeated Antigua and Barbuda 4-0. While the Gwada Boys were intended to face Trinidad and Tobago in that match, the twin-island republic were promoted to the main draw after Nicaragua were disqualified for fielding an ineligible player during the Nations League.
Probed about how he saw their opponents and today’s must-win game against Guadeloupe, Dover shared that he expected a tough game.
Dover said, “The fact that Trinidad is not in this phase of the tournament and Guadeloupe prevailed over Antigua, it’s not going to be an easy game, because we as a Caribbean nation played Guadeloupe before and had some very serious battle over two legs of football.
