Golden Jaguars off to Panama before El Salvador

The senior national football team, the Golden Jaguars, and support staff departed Guyana for Panama on Sunday morning for a short camp ahead of the 2014 World Cup Qualifiers double-header against El Salvador.
The Guyanese will trade skills with hosts El Salvador at the Estadio Cuscatlan on Friday, while the return game will be held next Tuesday at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence. Both games are part of the third round of Qualifiers in Group B. The local players will be joined by the foreign-based players and Head Coach Jamaal Shabazz in Panama.

Assistant Coach, Wayne ‘Wiggy’ Dover, who was working with the locally based players over the past few weeks, said he’s satisfied with their preparations for the two games, and he’s confident they will execute according to the team plan.
Dover apart, the players were put through their fitness regime by Brazilian Fitness Trainer, America Falopa. Falopa, who was the Fitness Trainer during 2005-2006 when Guyana enjoyed a successful run in the Digicel Caribbean Cup, was contracted this year by the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) to assist in the preparation of the team.
Friday’s game will be played in the largest stadium in Central America, the Estadio Cuscatlan, which has a capacity of 40,000.
Included in El Salvador’s line-up are captain and midfielder, Dennis Alas, the most capped player in El Salvador’s history; Alfred Pacheco, who scored during his country’s 1-2 Qualifier defeat against Mexico in June; and defender Steve Purdy from Major League Soccer (MLS) team, Portland Timbers.
The most notable absentee however, is 24-year-old play-maker Rodolfo Zelaya. The star player, who was the joint second leading goal scorer during the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, is still recovering from a knee injury that he suffered last year. The injury had also kept him out of El Salvador’s previous engagements in this group.
The Central American’s most recent fixtures were three matches in the United States versus famous Italian Serie A Club side, AS Roma, Guatemala and Jamaica.
The results of these games saw them losing to Roma and Jamaica 1-2 and 0-2 respectively, while triumphing over Guatemala 1-0.
The Guyanese, who lost 1-3 to Mexico and 0-4 to Costa Roca in June, are without a point at the bottom of the table in Group B. The Mexicans, unbeaten after two games, are leading the table on six points, followed by Costa Rica on four and El Salvador on one point.
Guyana squad reads: Richard Reynolds, Colin Edwards (Goal-Keepers), Charles Pollard, Walter Moore, Colin Nelson, John Paul ‘JP’ Rodrigues, Jamaal Smith (defenders), Chris Nurse (captain), Kayode McKinnon, Konata Mannings, Nick Millington, Dwight Peters, Dwain Jacobs, Kester Jacobs, Ricky Shakes, Trayon Bobb (Mid-Fielders), Carl Cort, Gregory Richardson, Vurlon Mills, Anthony Abrams, Shawn Beveney (Strikers).
Coach: Jamaal Shabazz, Assistant Coach: Wayne Dover, Trainer: Americo Falopa, General Manager: Rawle Adams, Assistant Manager: Mark Xavier, Equipment Manager: Trevor Burnett, Goal-Keeper Coach: Andrew Hazel, Physiotherapist: Debita Harripersaud.
El Salvador squad reads: Dagoberto Portillo, Benji Villalobos, Carlos Romeo Moneagudo, Dennis Alas, Isidro Gutierrez, Osael Romero, Elder Figueroa, Alexander Larin, Ramon Alfredo Sanchez, Eliseo Quintanilla, Nelson Bonilla, Christian Castillo, Alfredo Pacheco, Darwin Cerén, Steven Francis Purdy, Victor Turcios, Herbert Sosa, Mark Lester Blanco, Jaime Alas, Rafael Burgos, Milton Molina, Ricardo Ulloa, Xabier Garcia, Jonathan Aguila Joya, Derby Carillo, Cuellar Yimi, Irving Valdez, Julio Martinez and Omar Mejia.