The Guatemalan National Football Team was dealt an upset of sorts at the Barbados Football Association (BFA) Technical Center in St. Michael on Friday night, when their Guyanese counterparts emphatically turned the tables on their higher ranked rivals to go up in their home and away CONCACAF Gold Cup Qualifying series.
Another look at the Golden Jaguars’ clash with Guatemala on Friday night
The Golden Jaguars, who opted to start with Captain Daniel Wilson, Goalkeeper Quillan Roberts, Jalen Jones, Curtez Kellman, Reiss Greenidge, Liam Gordon, Elliot Bonds, Nathan Moriah Welsh, Morgan Ferrier, Isaiah Jones and Omari Glasgow, got to work early in battling to maintain the majority of possession.
In the ninth minute, Nathan Moriah Welsh managed to thread the ball through the defence to Isaiah Jones, who made the breakaway run and beat the keeper to net Guyana’s first goal.
Isaiah Jones netted a hattrick
A free-kick opportunity for Guatemala in the 29th minute resulted in the equalizer coming off the boots of Jose Martinez. However, their celebrations were short- lived, as confusion in the box in the aftermath of an Omari Glasgow free-kick saw Jones tapping the ball into the back of the net to restore the lead to Guyana in the 36th. Jones completed his hattrick in the 56th by finding another tap-in opportunity to extend Guyana’s lead.
Although Guatemala were able to convert a penalty opportunity through Pedro Altan in the 80th, Guyana held on for the 3-2 win;
following which interim Head Coach Wayne Dover declared that the wins means a lot, and shared that his team had executed well.
In the post-match press briefing, Dover shared, “I think we had our preparation, which we focused on a specific plan; and the guys retained as was taught, executed well tonight, which resulted in us getting a positive result, a result that we came looking for. And this result means a lot to us, not only the team, (but) as a nation. This is the first time in probably seven attempts (that) we have beaten Guatemala. So, this is a historical moment in Guyana football, and we’re really happy about the achievement.”
The Golden Jaguars celebrating with fans in Barbados after their historic win
Quizzed about the Golden Jaguars missing other goal-scoring opportunities, the interim Gaffer noted that team finishing is a work in progress.
“We’re positive, because it’s a work in progress. We know, from the last time when we played Guatemala in Guyana, we created loads of chances and should’ve really come out of that game with on top maybe a point out of it. Unfortunately, we suffer a 3-1 loss,” Dover explained.
“We know that goal-scoring has been part of the problem, but when we played the last two games in November to qualify for this phase, we scored 9 goals; tonight, we scored 3 more. S o, in three games, we scored 12 goals. So, we’re improving as we go along. It’s a work in progress, but we’ll gradually get there and become ruthless in front the goal,” he predicted.
Guyana will next take on Guatemala on Tuesday, March 25, in the return game of the qualifying series.
