Guyana vs Ethiopia Friendly: Majority locals in 18-man squad

The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) on Friday evening announced an 18-member squad that will constitute Guyana’s Senior Men’s National Football team, for a historic international friendly match against Ethiopia later this week.
The Golden Jaguars will take on Ethiopia on Wednesday, August 2nd at the Segra Field in Leesburg, Virginia, United States; in what will be the first time Guyana comes up against an African team.
The Golden Jaguars Squad, comprising 12 locals and 6 overseas-based players, reads: Goal keepers Akel Clarke and Joshua Narine; Defenders Jeremy Garrett, Curtez Kellman, Reiss Greenidge, Marcus Wilson, Leo Lovell, Raushan Ritch; Midfielders Daniel Wilson, Darren Niles, Ryan Hackett, Kelsey Benjamin, Yohance Douglas, Bevan Baker, Kyle Reid and Forwards, Jamal Pereira, Nicholas McArthur and Deon Moore.
Meanwhile, in an exclusive chat with Guyana Times Sport, Golden Jaguars Head Coach Jamaal Shabazz broke down the 18-man squad, divulging the rationale behind its composition.
“We don’t have to do much work on fitness because the guys are fresh out of a season. For this game, we’re going to use more of the local-based players, especially those who were in the squad and didn’t get a lot of playing time in the Gold Cup,” Shabazz revealed.
The Head Coach added, “So, the 18-man squad is really a mixture but it’s one where we’re really going to use the opportunity to reward the players who are playing in the KFC Elite League and give them a taste of international competition.”
Quizzed about the majority of the squad being local players and whether or not this is owing to the match being ‘just a friendly’, Shabazz responded in the negative, highlighting that the opportunity was taken to reward players who were outstanding in the recently concluded Elite League and get a better look at their skills ahead of the CONCACAF Nations League.
“Well, we gotta widen the pool. For me, it’s never about who local or who overseas; it’s always about the standard that we bring, you know, and it’s more about professional and amateur. The argument that people make on Facebook is nonsense. I don’t hear them who support Manchester City or Manchester United saying more player who born in Manchester should play for City or United,” the Golden Jaguars Head Coach began.
“It is a nonsensical argument. Guyana is for Guyanese, whether you born home or abroad. Why our Guyanese are only accepting who born overseas when they could send a barrel, or Western Union or MoneyGram? No. We’ve got to open our minds more.”
Shabazz further stated, “For us, it’s about opportunities. It’s a friendly match, so it gives us opportunities to widen the pool of local players, but still there are two overseas-based players that we want to see more of, and they got the opportunity to travel from their club. So really, going into the Nations League in September, it gives us the opportunity to get a wider view.”
Kickoff for the friendly match is set for 19:00hrs. (Jemima Holmes)