Guyana national football coach Jamaal Shabazz says he is proud of the strong defence the Golden Jaguars rolled out in their recent match against El Salvador and a more vibrant team is preparing to tackle Mexico.
Shabazz said that though the Golden Jaguars finished 3-2 and were knocked out of the World Cup qualifiers competition, fans should be proud that they reached such a high level in the tournament as this demonstrates the hard work they had put in to contest the tournament.
In discussing the team’s efforts against El Salvador, at a recent press briefing at the Guyana Football Federation’s headquarters, Shabazz said the Golden Jaguars presented a strong formation and fought hard in a hostile environment. However, he was disappointed at the abuse fans hurled at the players in reaction to a missed penalty shot.
“In the first minute of the game we scored and it was enjoyment for the Guyana team and its fans and after that the public began cussing us out for no meaningful reason because the scorer missed the penalty shot,” Shabazz said. The coach complained that instead of a standing ovation to honour the team’s efforts, “I get a proper cussing because the team lose.”
“It was so shocking they blaming Carl Cort for missing the penalty instead of applauding him for assisting to score the first two goals and in fact he created the first goal but nobody had the time to notice but instead they trying to talk down the players”, he added.
According to Shabazz, in the penalty round three players could have kicked the penalty shot: Walter Moore, Gregory ‘Jackie Chan’ Richardson or Cort.
He explained that had Moore, who had never kicked a penalty for Guyana or his club in Trinidad been allowed to kick the penalty and missed, he would have faced criticism. And similar criticisms would have been levelled had Jackie Chan been allowed to kick and missed; however, he chalks this up to being among “the kinds of stressful decisions that coaches have to make in high-pressure situations.”
Nevertheless Shabazz said the two previous games provided a tremendous opportunity for the team to finish on a high note and he remains confident in the players’ abilities. He says he too is upset when the Guyanese public is disappointed but the reality is “blows that don’t break the back [it] does strengthen it. Certainly our backs have not been broken and we are going for Mexico with a younger and more futuristic team.”
