The National Under-17 football squad will depart Guyana tomorrow for the Dominican Republic to compete in the second leg of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Under-17 World Cup qualification series which takes place next week.
The 19-man squad includes three Canada-based players who returned to Guyana for trials and were selected based on their performance.
The Canadian-based players are midfielders Khaneil Caesar and Khalil Rickette and striker Jordan Roberts. Team Manager Carlos Bernard said on
Thursday the players are all geared up for the four-nation series which will also include Haiti, Barbados and the host nation, Dominican Republic. The Guyanese advanced to the second round following their unbeaten run in the first round in Roseau, Dominica in July where they defeated hosts Dominica 5-0, Aruba 7-0 and drew with the Netherlands Antilles 2-2 to win the group on a better goal average after the Netherlands Antilles had also beaten the other two teams. Guyana will go into action on Wednesday against the host nation, before squaring off against Haiti on December 10 and then Barbados on December 12 in the final group match. “We expect to better our first round performance and the players are prepared both mentally and physically for the task ahead of them,” Bernard said confidently. He said the players were taken through a rigorous training programme by the coaching staff headed by Sampson Gilbert and Herbert McPherson (assistant coach), Andrew Hazel (goalkeeping coach) and Lindley Langhorne (physiotherapist/trainer) at a nine-day training camp organized by the Guyana Football Federation (GFF).
According to Bernard the inclement weather posed a challenge during the preparation but the team could encounter similar conditions which could work in their favour when they play in Santo Domingo.
The 19-man squad: Jordan Roberts, Kerwyn Benjamin, Pernell Schultz, Dicquan Vancooten, Khaneil Caesar, Julius Griffith, Domini Garnett, Jamal Booker, Rolex Martin, Mohamed Ali, Mark Walton, Andrae Hector, Marlon Lashley, Emitt Leacock, Tariq Dakhil, Kahlil Ricketts, Randy Persaud, Sherwyn Lewis and Selwyn Williams.
