With recent history against Barbados supporting a favourable outcome, can Guyana under the leadership of Jamaal Shabazz secure their first win in 25 months when the nation’s faceoff in the Land of the Flying Fish?
That question will be answered today when Guyana’s Golden Jaguars take on the Barbados national football team.
Shabazz, who was at the helm of the national setup on two previous occasions, created history when he oversaw the local unit’s record setting FIFA World Cup 2014 campaign in his previous stint.
The Golden Jaguars, under the leadership of the Trinidadian, qualified for the CONCACAF semi-finals of World Cup qualifying for the first time in their history.
They would also go onto achieve their best ever FIFA ranking of 86th during the month of November 2010 during his tenure, with their last win coming during a 4-3 Caribbean Cup victory over French Guiana in Grenada on November 18 in 2012.
However, since then, Guyana has suffered a string of unfortunate results, losing four out of five matches.
Losses to Haiti and Grenada in 2012 along with Caribbean Cup defeats to St. Lucia and St. Kitts and Nevis in 2014 highlight their recent track record with a draw against Dominica being the only constructive showing.
From a ranking perspective, the Barbadians presently lead the Guyanese as they are positioned 143rd compared to Guyana’s 167th. Their best ever ranking achieved was 92nd on October 2009.
However, the Golden Jaguar’s current record against Barbados leaves room for optimism as they have secured back-to-back 2-0 victories on their adversary on September 2 and October 7, 2011. Those victories were during the second round of Guyana’s World Cup Qualification campaign.
Further examination of the rivalry would showcase Guyana’s continued recent success, netting two more wins and a draw in three fixtures. Guyana claimed 1-0 and 3-2 home victories on May 20 and 22 of 2011 while they were held to a 1-1 draw seven days later in Waterford.
Overall the rivalry has seen both sides rack up six wins and five draws apiece though Guyana has secured four wins in their last five meetings. Barbados, due to their past dominance, holds the edge on goals scored, netting 28 against the 22 by the local outfit.
While the bulk of the previous success of the Golden Jaguars unit was based on a combination of foreign and local-based players, the current setup for the fixture against the Barbadians feature predominantly individuals playing their trade locally.
Further inspection of the selected squad illustrates that only two members from the 2014 Caribbean Cup Campaign have returned while six foreign-based players are a part of the setup.
Former Golden Jaguars captain Chris Nurse, who is expected to lead the local side on the field, heads the overseas contingent which comprises of the Canadian duo of Emery Welshman (Forward) and Jamal Smith (Defender).
Similarly apart of the squad are Trinidad and Tobago trio Akel Clarke (Goalkeeper), Trayon Bobb (Midfielder) and Pernell Schultz (Forward).
On the other hand the local based roster will consist of Goalkeeper Derick Carter (Western Tigers), Defenders Chris Camacho (Alpha United), Dwain Jacobs (Slingerz FC), Joshua Browne (Slingerz FC), Colin Nelson (Slingerz FC), Solomon Austin (Western Tigers), Midfielders Eusi Phillips (Guyana Defence Force), Vurlon Mills (Slingerz FC), Clive Nobrega (Slingerz FC), Calvin Shepherd (Pele FC) and Forwards Sheldon Holder (Alpha United) and Daniel Wilson (Alpha United).
In terms of the management staff, Wayne Dover returns to his familiar position of Assistant Coach while the Manager of Administration will be Faizal Khan. Debita Harripersad serves in the capacity of physiotherapist while Mark Xavier holds the post of Operation Manager.
The team’s trainer will be Anson Ambrose while Andrew Hazel will serve in the capacity of Goalkeeper Coach. Completing the technical staff is Trevor Burnett who is the Equipment Manager.
The return leg is to be announced by the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Normalization Committee in the future.
