Junior Jaguars to begin quest tomorrow

Andrew MurrayGuyana’s Under-20 footballers are expected to begin their quest for a spot in the 2009 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship tomorrow when the Caribbean Zone qualification kicks off in Grenada.

The Guyana team departed Trinidad yesterday morning for Grenada minus technical director Jamal Shabazz.
Shabazz will remain in Trinidad to link up with Alwyn Adams and Kevin Beaton who missed the Trinidad training camp because of examinations.

The two players will depart Guyana at 2pm today.

The Guyana team will most likely be led by striker Andrew Murray jnr. and will include Cloyd Bascom, Michael Crandon, Kieron Cameron, Trevis Henry, Colin Nelson and Adams – defenders.

The midfielders are:-Kris Camacho, Frank Crandon, Lumumba Hinds, Devon Moseley, Dwayne Mc Lennon and Anthony Benfield while the strikers are Murray, Telson Mc Kennon, Manasseh Primo and Beaton.

Richie Richards and O’Neil Heywood are the goalkeepers.

Fours players that missed the cut in Trinidad: Anthony Parks, Vernon John, Mortimer Ramdehol and Sylvester Da Silva will return home.

Grenada will host Group A which also includes the British Virgin Islands and St. Vincent and the Grenadines from tomorrow to Sunday.

Guyana will open their campaign against St Vincent and the Grenadines tomorrow and will play Grenada on Friday and the British Virgin Islands on Sunday.

Also this month, Cuba will stage Group A which includes Bahamas, Dominican Republic and Haiti from 27-31 May.

Group B takes place in the Cayman Islands from 23-27 July, and has Bermuda, Jamaica and Puerto Rico, while Dominica, St. Kitts & Nevis and Surinam, join the host Aruba in Group C from 16-20 July.

Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda and Saint-Martin will travel to the Netherlands Antilles for Group E action from 1-5 July.

The winners of each of the five groups along with the four best second-place finishers will advance to the Caribbean Second Round Qualification that will be composed of three triangular groups in September 2008.

The top team from each triangular along with the best second-place team will progress to the Caribbean Final Round scheduled for December 2008.

Elsewhere, Central American Zone will hold their qualification for the CONCACAF U-20 -ship later this year.

The Central American Group A, which runs from 17-21 September, in Honduras also consists of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, while Group B that will be held in Guatemala from 24-28 September has Belize, El Salvador and Panama.

The two runners-up from the Central American Groups will compete in a playoff series scheduled for October.

Trinidad & Tobago will host the CONCACAF U-20 Championship which is tentatively scheduled for January/February 2009.

The CONCACAF Tourna-ment will be held in a single venue for the first time since 1996 and will not only crown a champion age category but will also qualify four teams to the FIFA U-20 World Cup Egypt 2009