Golden Jaguars on the brink of sealing 2nd Gold Cup berth today

Today, Guyana’s senior men’s national football team will suit up for an all-important contest against Guatemala, as the Golden Jaguars hope to seal their 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup spot in the lion’s den.
On the heels, of an emphatic, historic victory on Friday last against the same opponents in Barbados, the Golden Jaguars will be heading into tonight’s clash with an advantage on aggregate; however, taking on Guatemala at the Estadio Cementos Progreso in Guatemala City will be no easy task.
As it stands, the Golden Jaguars will need a win or at least a draw to cement their spot in the Gold Cup this June – just the second time in the team’s history.
In the Golden Jaguars camp, both Coaches and players are confident that they can punch their tickets tonight.
In drawing a comparison to how they were able to penetrate Guatemala’s defences on Friday last, forward and hat-trick hero Isaiah Jones shared his expectations for today’s clash.
“I know, hopefully, it’ll be a different test ‘cause they’ll come out all guns blazing and we’ve just got to manage the game, but I’m confident me and the boys will get it done and qualify for Gold Cup,” Jones shared.

The forward went on to reveal how they would be dealing with the Guatemalan crowd tonight, “I think you need to prepare the same as you do for your club. You know it’s going to be hostile, being a lot of crowd. I think we’ve just got to manage it, don’t let the occasion get to us and let our foot do the talking literally.”
Describing their first Gold Cup appearance in 2019 as the highlight of his career, Assistant Coach Sam Cox exuded confidence in his troops, sharing that they could get the job done.
Cox related, “First of all, it was a fantastic performance from the boys, been here 10 years now and that’s certainly up there with one of the best performances that we’ve had. Obviously, never beaten Guatemala before, so the boys made history by doing that, but we know it’s only halftime essentially. We’ve got a massive game tomorrow [today]; we understand the task at hand. It’s going to be tough, we know that, they’re going to give everything. We know they’ve got all to play for. It’ll be a raucous crowd, packed house. But on the flip side, we know that we’ve got a lot of quality going forward, so we can’t sit off too much. I think we’ve got to play our game.”
“I’ve got full confidence in this group of players. They’re an honest group; they want to do well for our country and to get to our second-ever Gold Cup will be one of the best feelings. You know, the first time round was the highlight of my career, getting to that Gold Cup and the thrill and joy it brought to our people back home was unbelievable. I’ve got full confidence that we can do it again. We’ve just got to be strong, stick together, stick to the game plan and we know we can do the business tomorrow [today],” the player-turned-coach further stated.