Golden Jaguars hungry for success says Coach Dover
BY AKEEM GREENE
Guyana’s National Football team, the Golden Jaguars are attempting to create history by qualifying for the Gold Cup but their first two hurdles will be overcoming nemesis Suriname and the formidable Jamaica Reggae Boyz in round three of the 2016 Scotia Bank Men’s Caribbean Cup.
Though it seems a daunting task, Assistant Head Coach Wayne Dover in speaking to Guyana Times Sport on Thursday at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) revealed that the team is hungry to succeed.
Some of the Golden Jaguars players engaged in the “beep test”Wayne Dover
“We see a level of seriousness from the guys over time; we see a really hungry group in search of victory, who will go out there fight to the bitterly to the end, do or die and try to get this result that is needed to qualify Guyana for the Gold Cup” , Dover disclosed.
Though for the venue for the matches which are slated on October 8 (Suriname) and October 11 (Jamaica) are uncertain since the Track and Field Facility at Leonora is seeking to pass fitness from the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), the coach said that the team is focused on doing their job by inputting the necessary training.
Dover explained that “The early ground work has been good, most of the players are in pre-season with their respective the Elite League teams so there is a base they came at and we are trying to build; it’s a collective effort needed to improve, and once we get that we will be at full strength”
In round two of the tournament, the Jaguars would have lost 5-2 to Curacao but rebounded by scolding US Virgin Islands 7-0. Commenting on how the players plan to deal with the pressure of playing their formidable opponents, Dover said that they need to remain focus on the mission at hand.
“In playing against Jamaica, once we focus as a group, and play discipline throughout the game, we can hold them probably to draw or win; we know Jamaica and those teams who are noted to be top teams in the region they could become cocky at times and think Guyana is a simple push over and we can ketch them a little bit over confident and complacent just like we did with Trinidad a few years ago and came out on top of that game” the Assistant Coach disclosed.
He went unto say, “With regards to Suriname they are our old nemesis and we have played them a few times over the years and we have been on the winning side most times and we want to continue that trend.”
The local contingent over the next few days are expected to be engaged in rigorous fitness drills while they await the arrival of the overseas based players before the final squad is announced.
Guyana Provisional Squad; Guyana based players – Andrew Murray (Alpha United FC), King Solomon Austin (Alpha United FC), Richie Richards (Alpha United FC), Kester Jacobs (Slingerz FC), Eon Alleyne (Fruta Conquerors FC), Vernon Mills (Slingerz FC), Gregory Richardson (Pele FC), Devon Millington (Slingerz FC), Daniel Wilson (Alpha United FC), Dwight Peters (Alpha United FC), Quincy Adams (Slingerz FC), Trayon Bobb (Slingerz FC), Dellon Lanferman (Alpha United FC), Colin Nelson (Alpha United FC), Dwain Jacobs (Alpha United FC), Tichard Joseph (Slingerz FC), Pernell Schultz (Alpha United FC) and Hubert Pedro (GFC).
Overseas based players – Akel Clarke (Central Couva FC), Walter Moore (FF Jaro FC), Samuel Cox (Wealdstone FC), Christopher Nurse (Puerto Rico FC), Sheldon Hiolder (Caledonia AIA FC), Neil Danns (Bury FC), Brandon Beresford (Rhoster Rhinos), Anthony Whyte (Sigma FC), Kadel Daniels (Dulwich Hamlet), Marcel Barrington (Margate FC), Jake Newton (Walton and Hersham FC), Shaquille Agard (Durham United FC), Julien Edwards, Adrian Butters (York Region Shooters), Amos Ramsay (Caledonia AIA FC), Kai Mc Kenzie-Lyle (Barnet FC), Warren Creavalle (Philadelphia Union FC), Sherif El-Masri and Corey Thomas.
