The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) yesterday announced the 20- man squad that will represent Guyana at next week’s Parbo Bier Cup in Suriname and longstanding central defender Howard Lowe has been named as captain of the refurbished Golden Jaguars unit.
The tournament would be Guyana’s first outing for the year and also their first match since last year’s Digicel Caribbean Championships when they were booted out in the second round.
Paul James has been placed at the helm of the Jaguars unit, taking over from former national coach and National Sports Commission 2008 Coach-of-the-Year Wayne ‘Wiggy’ Dover, who is now working with Trinidadian Professional League Club Caledonia AIA.
In James’s first outing since taking charge of the team, he drew with an Upper Demerara select side last week and he has told Stabroek Sport that the match allowed him to see where some of the new faces stand in terms of their preparedness to play at the national level.
The national coach said, however, that he was really impressed with the leadership ability that Lowe has brought to the team and although the team has a few players who have had stints with the previous Jaguars unit, he (Lowe) is the only player who he would dub a senior national.
And so without hesitation, Lowe was put in charge of the squad. Team manager Lawrence Griffith told Stabroek Sport yesterday that a few changes were made to the team and they had suffered a few setbacks in their preparation stage of the tournament because a few players who were called to the camp did not turn up.
One such player, he said, was striker Dwight Peters and according to Griffith, the player was sent home after he turned up on Tuesday, May 26, four days after the team had stated their encampment.
Apart from Peter’s omission, Glenorvan Edmonds of Santos and Adrian
Adams of Berbice opted out owing to school commitments and Berbician Kurt Bristol withdrew after sustaining an injury.
Meanwhile, Alpha United’s goalie Ronson Williams and left back Randy Small were drafted into the team.
Some familiar faces who have found favour with the selectors, having worked with the previous administration, include Dwayne Jacobs, Emerick Williams, Philbert Moffat, Edison Gomes and Dirk Archer.
Coach James in a recent interview was optimistic about his chances of success at the tournament in Suriname since he was pleased with the players’ response to the training.
Guyana will join host Suriname, French Guiana and Antigua and Barbuda in this year’s Parbo Bier Cup.
The Jaguars will depart these shores on June 1 and will first come up against
Antigua at the Andre Kampervene Stadium on Wednesday, June 3 at 18:00 hrs. On Friday, June 5, the local boys are down to face longtime rivals Suriname at 20:00 hrs and their final game of the tournament will be against French Guiana at 16: 00 hours on Sunday, June 7 before returning home on June 9.
The full squad reads:
Goalkeepers: Shemroy Arthur (Pele), Ronson Williams (Alpha) Richie Richards (Camptown).
Defenders: Howard Lowe (Alpha), Quincy Madramootoo (Alpha), Devon Harris (GDF), Keron Cameron (GDF), Reshawn Sandiford (Camptown) and Randy Small (Linden)
Midfield: Travis Grant (Pele), Emerick Williams (Alpha), Philbert Moffat (Alpha) Sceyon Hope, (Camptown), Warren Gilkes (GDF), Dwayne Jacobs (Alpha) and Dirk Archer (Pele).
Forwards: Edison Gomes (Alpha), Clive Andries (Buxton United), Peter Parks (GFC), Delroy Deen (B.V Triumph United).
The coach is Paul James; assistant coaches are Gavin Browne and Billal Nantambu; and the manager is Lawrence Griffith.
