By Orin Davidson
As expected, the Golden Jaguars team of 2014 is coming home with its tail between its legs from the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) qualifying competition.
After an embarrassing three match sojourn in St Kitts Nevis, this team should be re-christened “Toothless Jaguars”.
A hodge-podge collection of players representing the nation for the first time in almost two years, finished second from last in the first round among the weakest of Caribbean minnows, in a display that administered a resounding slap in the faces of the new administrative leaders of Guyana’s football.
The team was unable to notch a single win and worse yet, did not score even one goal among island nations that have combined populations that amount to less than half of Guyana’s,
From the moment the so-called Jaguars was held to a goalless draw by the pitiful 168th world-ranked Dominica, the writing was on the wall. Subsequent 2-0 losses to St Kitts and St Lucia were not surprising in the least, which sent them packing, resulting in Guyana’s worst ever display in the CFU Cup.
This of course is not entirely the players’ fault. Rather the buck stops squarely at the feet of Guyana Football Federation President Christopher Matthias and his cohorts, who made an unholy mess in assembling and equipping the squad for a vital competition.
All of the members except one were greenhorns in international competition, for which Matthias must be forced to fully explain and other decisions that made Guyana endure the most precipitous decline in results in Federation of International Football (FIFA) status.
To describe the feelings of fans now as distressing is an understatement, as in the blink of an eye the Jaguars dropped from its highest of highs to rock bottom low.
In reaching the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) World Cup Qualifying semi-finals competition two years ago, the Jaguars had nailed down the country’s all-time best ever performance.
But due to a combination of petty politics and lack of will, compliments of a dysfunctional GFF, Guyana is now in the doldrums. When the next FIFA rankings are made, this country might well be battling with Dominica for the latter country’s paltry 168 position.
That is from a second best all time high rank of 91, achieved after the Jaguars topped the likes of Regional powerhouse Trinidad and Tobago along with Bermuda and Barbados among others to qualify for clashes with world class contenders like Mexico and Costa Rica in the CONCACAF WC series.
That historic performance seemed to have little impact on Matthias and his people as little or no effort was seemingly made to recruit the players that made Guyana the talking highlight of Caribbean football in 2012.
Except Walter Moore, the Jaguars in St Kitts were devoid even of any of the local born and bred professionals who ply their trade overseas.
It was stunning to behold a Guyana team without the likes of Trayon Bobb, Gregory ‘Jackie Chan’ Richardson, Ronson Williams , Vurlon Mills, Anthony Abrams, Dwight Peters, Colin Nelson, Shawn Beveney and Konata Mannings among others —— all proven players at Caribbean level. Similarly the technical team comprised not one member of the previous lineup.
The memory of 18-year-old Bobb nailing a double haul of goals against El Salvador in the intimidating atmosphere of San Salvador’s Estadio Cuscatlan stadium in the CONCACAF semifinals on September 7 2012, still lingers.
It was a hallmark performance of a top quality natural goal scorer who has notched them up wherever he plies his trade, be it Lithuania, Finland or Trinidad and Tobago, and who some countries would give an arm for.
Mills, Abrams and the seasoned Richardson also have a proven affinity for finding the nets, and would’ve been aces for the Jaguars.
So, instead of admitting he was unable to raise the money necessary to properly fund the Jaguars for the CFU series, Matthias and his people have been sprouting lots of balderdash about developing local players instead.
It is a serious insult to the intelligence of Guyanese fans to suggest a complete rebuild of a predominantly young team that had just topped all other previous national teams in the biggest competition ever for this country.
Moreso, no one in their right mind would field a national team in a serious competition comprising 99.9 percent of players without any international experience whatsoever.
Matthias reportedly stated that players did not indicate interest for selection, but the question is why.
Did he reach out to them with an intention of wooing those professionals back into the team?
The only reasonable conclusion is that the GFF is without the financial means to bring those players back.
To compete internationally requires solid funding to pay players and cover transportation expenses from their bases abroad.
Matthias must explain whether he was capable or not of adhering to this most basic requirement for modern day football campaigns.
The team’s minimal preparation which included three warm-up games against local club teams without any international friendlies, suggest money is the big issue.
The GFF president frequently attacks the previous administration about the debt it incurred, but it is nothing to be ashamed of for small countries, especially in Guyana’s case because the Jaguars could not have reached as far in those 2014 WC qualifiers without a costly bill of expenses.
Jamaica, the most successful English speaking Caribbean country performance-wise in recent years, has seen its federation constantly in debt, so has been the Trinidad and Tobago equivalent.
Matthias fought tooth and nail to be GFF president and signed on, knowing the monumental task required in raising capital for its programmes, so he has no excuses for this latest team debacle, caused mainly through a shoestring budget.
After one and a half years of a new GFF executive, the signs are clear, football will continue to suffer the consequences of poverty. In a recent NCN TV interview the GFF president ridiculously stated that development in his view is the number of local competitions staged, not necessarily what the national team does.
In an obvious attempt to cover-up for his administration’s inability to keep the national team active, Matthias sounded like someone suffering the effects of the famous fall “Humpty Dumpty” had from the wall.
If he needs to be reminded, a country’s progress is measured by what its national team does on the international stage. It’s where the prestige is garnered and where the money’s at.
Sports disciplines these days need to be led by people of financial clout.
Jamaica’s football is continuing to be relevant because its federation president Horace Burrell is a leading businessman there who generates enough funding for national teams to remain consistently high in the CONCACAF pecking order.
Trinidad and Tobago qualified for the 2006 World Cup finals because its de facto association president Jack Warner, at the time, one of the country’s richest men, had the means to acquire millions of US dollars to spend on the Soca Warriors reaching Germany.
It is worthy to note that in the interim since Guyana eliminated Trinidad and Tobago from the 2014 WC qualifiers, that country has done well enough to earn a friendly game against world powerhouse Argentina at the famous Monumental stadium in Buenos Aries.
In contrast Guyana has gone way backwards, culminating with a first round ouster from one of the weakest groups of the CFU qualifying competition, after almost two years of inactivity.
You reap what you so sow and Matthias’ federation has further immersed itself in the doghouse of unpopularity among fans with the national team’s dismal display in St Kitts.
Let him explain this latest catastrophe to the nation.
