Undeterred by the quality of Canada’s Olympic team, newly minted Golden Jaguars captain Colin Nelson said his charges will approach today’s international friendly with the same intensity and objective of a competitive outing.
Guyana will face off with the Canadians today from 19:00hrs at the Providence National Stadium and the team for the contest will be chosen from the likes of Alex Murray, Solomon Austin, Joshua Browne, Collin Nelson, Kester Jacobs, Eon Alleyne, Gregory Richardson, Devon Millington, Daniel Wilson, Dwight Peters, Quincy Adams, Trayon Bobb, Pernell Shultz, Dellon Lanferman, Ishankie Charles, Anthony Whyte, Daniel Whyte, Marcel Barrington, Clive Nobrega, Tichard Joseph, Hubert Pedro, Les-Charles Critchlow, Jahaal Greaves, Cortez Kellman and Mustapha Haqq.
Speaking yesterday ahead of the inaugural meeting of the countries, Nelson said, “We are approaching the game with the same intensity as every other game and this game is to prepare for the next round of CFU matches which is in two weeks and we are playing to come out with intense pace.”
According to the versatile player, his role as captain is simply to act as a guide for the other players, pointing out that it was not extra responsibility as every member of the team has an important role to play.
“Being the captain, I don’t see it as any extra work, I mean it’s a football team and a duty is expected of every player despite being captain or captain not. My duty is to lead and guide the players,” he added.
His Canadian counterpart Maxime Crépeau said while his team does not have much scouting information of the Guyanese unit, they will analyze some video footage and see how best they can ascertain the weaknesses of their opponents.
According to the goalkeeper, “We don’t know a lot on the team but we will watch the videos (we have) before today’s game and we have training on Saturday (yesterday) afternoon so we are going to see how we can hurt them and make them pay for their mistakes.”
Asked if the team has adjusted to the conditions he said, “We’re all professionals and sometimes we have to adjust to so many things in our lives so it’s good to play in the heat.
“Obviously that’s why we’re drinking water, but maybe some guys will get cramps but we just have to adapt as quickly as we can for a good performance for tomorrow’s game,” the Montreal FC player added.
Meanwhile, Head coach of the local side Jamaal Shabazz, while commending the visitors for their Olympic qualification berth, declared that his charges will provide a stern test come kick off time.
“You will indeed get a test today. You will get a huge test and you know we intend to put our best foot forward,” he indicated. On the other hand, Canadian Tactician Michael Findley, during brief remarks, said that the fixture provides the avenue for development of both countries advancement.
“It gives us a great opportunity to engage in competition but more importantly to advance ourselves as a nation and also CONCACAF.”
Meanwhile, in the opening encounter at 16:00hrs, fourth time defending Digicel champs Christianburg/Wismar Secondary will faceoff with Milo U20 champs Chase Academy.
