Guyana’s National Senior Men’s football team, the Golden Jaguars, will have an uphill task ahead of them as they prepare for the impending Concacaf Gold Cup.
Following the Gold Cup draw that was hosted in Los Angeles on Wednesday evening, it was revealed that Guyana will compete in what can be considered one of the toughest groups. Being drawn in Group D, the Golden Jaguars will have to battle with Panama, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States of America.
The boys hailing from the land of many waters will play their first game on June 18 in Minneapolis Minnesota, against hosts USA. Their second game day will be on June 22 with a match up against Panama in Cleveland, Ohio. Their final game will be against Caribbean counterparts and longtime rivals Trinidad and Tobago in Kansas City, Kansas.
Present at the draw and speaking on behalf of the Golden Jags was Head Coach Michael Johnson. The event’s host was full of praise for the coach who was appointed just last year and managed to lead the team to the Gold Cup, but a humble Johnson diverted some of the praises to his hardworking team.
“Thank you for congratulating me, but it’s not just me. There’s a huge team behind me, the staff, the technical director, the players, the fans, it’s been a collective effort. And also they’re people who have gone before me who put a brick in on this long journey,” the Golden jaguars Head Coach stated.
When questioned about Guyana’s readiness, Johnson was confident about his team’s abilities in the next level tournament.
“We’re going to enjoy it. Nobody really gave us a chance to get here, and I’d imagine nobody would give us a chance to get out the group but I have a group of players who I’ve got really strong belief in and on any given day we can beat any team in this Concacaf so we’re hoping to be prepared and we’re hoping to be ready for the competition,” he confidently said.
The Golden Jags qualified for the Gold Cup just a few weeks ago, on March 23, after pulling off a scintillating 2-1 win over Belize who were also competing for qualification. (Jemima Holmes)
