Jaguars enter the wilderness against USA

CONCACAF Gold Cup 2019…

When the lights go on in the Allianz Field Stadium in Minnesota this evening, the Golden Jaguars, hailing from the proverbial jungles of Guyana, will find themselves facing the National Soccer team of the USA — defending champions of the CONCACAF Gold Cup — before approximately 19,400 expectedly partisan faces.
For the boys from the ‘Land of Many Waters’ that will mean 19,400 hearts they will have to win during the course of 90 minutes.
More importantly, the Golden Jags will need to break the hearts of 11 persons: members of the soccer team of the USA.
On March 23, 2019, at the Leonora Track and Field Centre, Guyana sealed their debut participation at one of the most lucrative tournaments in the CONCACAF line-up with a 2-1 win over Belize, who had a similar mission. That win allowed the Guyanese XI to ink their names on the Gold Cup schedule, after ending the Nations League in 7th place overall.
The Guyana Football Federation then switched gears to ensure that the team, led by former Jamaican national player Michael Johnson as Head Coach, was afforded every opportunity to be prepared for the task at hand — taking on the USA, Panama, and Trinidad and Tobago in Group D.
Team members have been together since the beginning of June, as they embarked on a period of encampment which included playing two friendly international matches against host Bermuda, and Haiti in Costa Rica.
The team’s preparations continued in Minneapolis, USA and now St. Paul, Minnesota ahead of tomorrow’s opening clash against the host and defending champions.
Johnson is steadfast in his belief that his charges are well prepared for the task at hand, citing that they have been living together and getting to know each other both on and off the field of play.
“For the last few days, we’ve had a chance to really batten down and deal with what we expect, as we know the team now; and this has allowed us to be more precise in our work, and more detailed, from an analytic point of view, both in and out of possession and how we’re going to approach this game,” he detailed.
Acknowledging that at this level experience is always needed, Johnson also said there is need for youthful legs, especially in areas where you might be able to hurt the opposition.
“The team’s been picked appropriately for this game; and more likely than not, it could change for the next one. But we feel (that) what we’ve got at our disposal…we are in a very, very good place with hours left before the big game,” he has said.
The experienced Johnson, who had represented Jamaica at the Gold Cup, zoomed in on the fact that for most of the players, this is the biggest stage at which they have ever played; and he says that with this realisation comes anxiety, nervousness, and a tinge of excitement.
“But we’ve been able to handle that as a staff. You know, I’ve talked to them about my experiences in big games, and how you approach them. But we all know (that) once the whistle blows the nervousness goes, the anxiousness goes because now you are in it; and that’s what we all can’t wait for now,” he explained.
As chief tactician, Johnson said the build-up has been tremendous and the players are ready to go, even as he reiterated that the challenge is being embraced by both players and management.
He ended his conversation on the note that qualification for this, the highest level of competition in CONCACAF, is a massive achievement; and he posited that they want to go one step further.
“I think (that) we, by our own professionalism, by our own expectations, are putting more pressure on (ourselves) internally than probably anybody else. I’ve seen statements that don’t give us a chance; written us off. we won’t score a goal, easy game for America. But, internally, I think there is an inner belief and a real resilience that that’s the case (we can win); and I think that’s where the pressure comes from us in our own environment: thinking we can do a lot better than the so-called armchair pundits, press, players from America and coaching staff have said,” Johnson confided.
Captain of the team, Sam Cox, commenting on the tournament, noted that his colleagues, as a collective, would have been excited ever since the draw was made, and he said the occasion would be fantastic for the players and country, as it presents the ideal platform for Guyana’s name to be put on the world stage in front of 40 million viewers.
“It’s going to be a brilliant occasion! It’s a different experience for all of us, a situation that we’ve never been in. We’ve had the NationLeague games, World Cup Qualifiers in the past, but never have we been to a major tournament; so it’s been a complete different experience to what we’ve had before. I feel the boys and I are mentally prepared. We know that we are in a very tough group, but we feel that if we apply ourselves properly, we can surprise a few people. We can compete and, hopefully, we can gain the respect of a lot of people along the way,”
Cox said.
He closed his remarks on this note, “We are going to do our talking on the pitch.”
Kick-off time in this feature match is 21:00hrs in St. Paul MN and 22:00hrs in Guyana. Trinidad and Tobago would face off with Panama in the Group D opening clash.

Schedule:

Saturday, June 22 – FirstEnergy Stadium, Cleveland, OH (Group D)
5:30 pm Guyana v Panama
7:30 pm USA v Trinidad and Tobago
Wednesday, June 26 – Children’s Mercy Park, Kansas City, KS (Group D)
6:30 pm Trinidad and Tobago v Guyana
8:30 pm Panama v USA