Golden Jaguars meet PM, Sport Minister before jetting off for friendlies

…Brazilian friendlies being considered – Ramson Jr.

The local base of Guyana’s senior men’s national football team the Golden Jaguars, featuring a handful of international faces, will jet off for the Twin Island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago today, in anticipation of two international friendly games.
The Golden Jaguars will come up against Trinidad’s Soca Warriors on Monday, May 13 and Wednesday, May 15. As such, Sport Minister Charles Ramson Jr., Director of Sport Steve Ninvalle, and a number of other stakeholders met with members of the team at the Arthur Chung Conference Center (ACCC) at Liliendaal on Friday afternoon.

There, the Sport Minister gave an overview of the Government’s role in the Golden Jaguars’ impending trip. Ramson Jr. divulged to media operatives on Friday, “We’re sending 30 persons over to Trinidad to play against their national team and their elite players there, and there’s a reason for that. You know, you can never improve your skills and your teamwork and your capabilities as a team if you’re not playing against better teams, and it’s no secret Trinidad has got a very good team.
“We want to take every opportunity that we could, that is within budget, that we could use to increase our opportunities. They’re going to be having a number of matches against other countries as part of the League A programme, but this is part of how they will prepare themselves,” the Sport Minister added.
According to Ramson Jr, the push for better opposition for the Golden Jaguars does not end at Trinidad, since friendlies against a Brazilian opposition are being considered for the near future.
“I think where this is concerned, this is one of the ways where we can make a good investment into them going to practice against better teams. We’re looking to have something against a team in Brazil later on, maybe in a month or two, depending on what the schedule looks like. But that’s on the cards right now. It’s something that the President and I have discussed, and it’s something at the level of the cabinet. It’s also discussed too,” Ramson Jr. disclosed.
Touching on this reinvigorated interest in the National team, Ramson Jr. says Government’s current investment in the team surpasses that of years prior. The Sport Minister explained, “The investment that we’re making now in the Guyana national football team, we’ve never made this level of investment before. That’s the reality. We are also making that commitment in a very sensible way too, which is about making sure that if we want to give ourselves an exceptional or distinct opportunity to succeed at the World Cup level, then they have to play better teams, and that’s something that we’ve been organizing.”
The Golden Jaguars are in preparation mode for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, which they will kickoff on June 6 against Panama.