Malouda eager to collaborate on advancing Guyanese football

Several former Golden Jaguars internationals, the likes of Gregory ‘Jackie Chan’ Richardson, Charles Pollard, Anthony ‘Awo’ Abrams and even Guyana Football Federation (GFF) President Wayne Forde, banded together on Wednesday night to showcase the best of Guyana’s Masters players, taking on French legend Florent Malouda and his French counterparts.
The former France international and UEFA Champions League winner with Chelsea is in Guyana on football-related matters and finally got the opportunity to stretch his legs on the pitch.
The battle was an entertaining one as Malouda, Richardson, and Abrams all found the back of the net in the friendly clash.
Following the encounter, both Malouda and GFF Boss Wayne Forde had fond words to describe Wednesday night’s match.
Florent Malouda told this publication exclusively, “It’s only love. Like we say, we came here to connect with our friends, and football unites the world, and tonight, football unites two Guianas. We come here to support, we come here to enjoy, and the way everyone here welcomed us, I would say that I hope we have the opportunity to invite you to French Guiana and to Cayenne and let’s celebrate.”
Forde later shared, “I think it was a beautiful occasion, a really good game, competitive match. Of course, we were hoping to come away with the W, but it didn’t work out that way, but I think both teams enjoyed the match. A lot of camaraderie before during and after the game.”
“It’s always good to host someone who is renowned internationally. I’ve watch Malouda play for many years; I’m not particularly a Chelsea fan, I’m a Man U guy, but we all admire great players, and he is a legend, and it was good to host him and his team,” the GFF President added.
Football was not the only sport to peak Malouda’s interest in Guyana over the past few days, as he noted his amazement.
“I’m impressed. So many competitions, so many different sports in the same weekend – I think its moving, should be inspiring for everybody around, and I think Guyana is leading the way for us. Like I said, we came here to inspire; what we saw is quite impressive,” Malouda explained.
The UEFA Champions League winner further divulged, “We had a visit with the Minister of sports, showed us the plan, shared the vision. We came here to support, and we’ll definitely be back.”
Quizzed about his visit, Malouda expressed an intent to help boost Guyana’s football, especially a World Cup run.
“During my time at Chelsea, I had a good friend who was managing Guyana football team, so we had many discussions on this topic. I always promise him I would come to meet and to connect, so that’s also one of the purpose of the visit,” Malouda told this publication.
“I have my expertise in football internationally, and I wish if one day, Guyana is serious about maybe qualifying for the World Cup, I’ll be the first one to support. Now we have the connection, we have the link. I met the President of the GFF, and I’m available to work on future projects, and I hope this would come to fruition,” the former player added.
On the other hand, the GFF President, following Malouda’s visit to their secretariat earlier this week, also noted his eagerness to collaborate with the international star.
Forde disclosed to Guyana Times Sport, “In terms of what we’ve been discussing, global football is all about network and former players at that level have particular networks because they’ve been through clubs, academies and they have relationships. Those relationships sometimes can be brought to bear for the main purpose of exposing players. So, we’re having those discussions.”
“I understand, from talking to him, he’s also investing in academies and other football projects. These are early days in our discussions, but we’ve made a decision that we’ll continue to talk and look at what might be a best fit to kick-start a collaboration.”
“Hopefully, in the not-so-distant future, we can be making an announcement about something we’re doing together,” the GFF boss added.
Florent Malouda, born in Cayenne, French Guiana was a French National player for several years, notably competing in their memorable World Cup final run in 2006. He later won the UEFA Champions League with Premier League club Chelsea FC. (Jemima Holmes)