The Golden Jaguars in action against St Kitts last Friday
Although the result of today’s match will not alter their futures in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying process, both Guyana and Puerto Rico are taking an optimistic view of their final game – they’re in the hunt for three points.
It is the final game in Group F of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers for the Golden Jaguars against Puerto Rico, who are also out of the competition.
During a virtual media engagement on Monday, Golden Jaguars Captain Matthew Briggs shared his disappointment at Guyana being out of the running, but maintained his positivity about future engagements.
“Obviously, we’re disappointed to not go further in the World Cup Qualifiers, but we’re looking forward to tomorrow,” Briggs stated.
The recently-appointed Captain shared, “We’re going to go into the game one hundred per cent and try to put our mistakes right that cost us the game the other day. But in all, we’re just looking forward to this game and preparing for the Gold Cup against Guatemala.”
On a similar note, Head Coach Marcio Maximo called the game a “good test”, as the Golden Jaguars head into Gold Cup qualification in July.
“I think that they’ll be a good test for us. It’s a good test for us before Guatemala game. So, we’re still in our line, use a lot of youth players on the pitch, give experience to them and tomorrow (today) we hope we’ll take a good result,” Maximo said.
“Of course, we respect Puerto Rico, they improved a lot in the last few years, but we are confident that we can make a good game.”
Like Guyana, Puerto Rico are hoping to end their run in the qualification tournament on a high note, as Coach Dave Sarachan promised that his players were going out to win.
“… we still have a job to do within our group, we still have goals and aspirations as a young team and as a country to get results to help us in the bigger picture when it comes to competitions like Nations’ League, Gold Cup competitions,” Sarachan said.
“We’re going to step on the field tomorrow (today) and try to win the game. The XI we choose, we’ll have confidence that we can do that.”
Guyana will take on Puerto Rico, today, Tuesday, June 8 at Warner Park, St Kitts. Kick-off is expected at 16:00h (4 pm) local time.
Group F leaders St Kitts and Nevis have already gotten the green light to the next round of the World Cup 2022 Qualifiers, following Trinidad and Tobago’s draw with The Bahamas. St Kitts have three wins from as many games, with nine points, while T&T sit at second with five points from a win and two draws. Puerto Rico currently have four points, while Guyana have three and The Bahamas have one.
