Golden Jaguars need to rise to the challenge – Shabazz

By Akeem Greene

The National Football team, the Golden Jaguars are in round three of the Scotiabank Men’s Caribbean Cup, and if they progress, a historic achievement will occur as they will qualifying for the prestigious Gold Cup for the first time ever.

The first two hurdles the team must cross are that of nemesis Suriname and the formidable Jamaica Reggae Boyz and according to Head Coach, Jamaal Shabazz, the team must rise to the challenge.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday evening at the team’s final practice session at the Leonora stadium before departure to Suriname today (Thursday), the coach firmly stated the team must overcome the challenges presented.
“We want to look with courage and confidence going into the game against Suriname and try to get the result we want; we have to accept the situation and do the best for our country, it’s not ideal but its good when you are able to face challenges and overcome them.”
Shabazz added “While we are not satisfied that we got the best preparation, we have come to understand that life is full of challenges and in football when you get the squad together and the players are united and motivated to play, challenges die a natural death.”
On Saturday, the Jaguars play Suriname at the Andre Kamperveen Stadium (Paramaribo) from 16:30h and in the last four encounters between Guyana and Suriname; the Guyanese have triumphed thrice while drawing once.
Commenting on the composition for the squad for the match, the coach explained that it is a good mixture of youth and experience and more so, they choose players who had previous knowledge of playing against the opponents.
“We have a good blend of youth and experience; the fact that we playing to world class opponents, Suriname has been a long time now, a worthy opponents for Guyana and Jamaica is considered the top team in Caribbean football; the surprise pick may be Anthony Abrams, he is 37 but he has played a lot in Suriname so he is a horse for that cause, Quincy Adams, Walter Moore have also had experience playing there”, the head coach explained.
He further stated that “We chose a squad for this trip that we feel are quite capable of getting us a result that we desire, it is a difficult time and we need a crew that could weather the storm”.
Some new additions to the squad are USA based winger Cash London who plays for Cal Poly San Luis in California, goalkeeper Andrew Nestor who plays for St. Francis in Brooklyn New York and Anani Mohammed who recently signed with Mexican Second Division team Atalante; Kai McKenzie Lyle, a 6ft 5 goalkeeper who plays for Barnett in the English Division Two and USA born midfielder Warren Creavalle who plays for the Philadelphia Union in the MLS.
After playing the Dutch on Saturday, the attention will be turned to the Reggae Boyz on Tuesday for clash at Leonora but the coach says the focus is on Suriname for the moment.
“It’s all about the attitude we bring to the task now, we want to take it one step at a time, Suriname is the team we have to play now and we are focused on that and we want to go in with the right mental approach and right level of enthusiasm; we are up for the task” the confident Shabazz disclosed.
The full squad reads: Goalkeepers – Kai McKenzie Lyle, Andrew Nestor, Alex Murray
Defenders – Jake Newton, Samuel Cox, Quincy Adams, Walter ‘Boyd’ Moore, Adrian Butters, Colin Nelson, Anani Mohammed
Midfielders – Dwight Peters, Cash London, TrayonBobb, Christopher Nurse, Brandon Beresford, Warren Creavalle, Daniel Wilson, Kevin Beaton
Forwards – Anthony ‘Awo’ Abrams, Vurlon Mills, Marcel Barrington, Pernel Schultz. (akeemg@guyanatimesgy.com)