The relatively small city of Bradenton, (population 55,000), on the West Coast of Florida was recently the scene of significant developments in Guyana’s football.
The occasion? The 2018 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship, which, this year, serves as the qualifying tournament for, four CONCACAF teams for the 2019 FIFA Under-20 World Cup Tournament scheduled for Poland, and also, the participating teams for 2019 Pan American Games Men’s Football Tournament to be held in Peru.
This year’s tournament, unlike previous ones, had no prequalifying competition and attracted entries from 34 of the 41 CONCACAF members. It will run until the 21st of this month and is being held at the famous International Management Group (IMG) Academy which is housed on a sprawling 500-acre complex, replete with the best sporting facilities one can find anywhere in the world. The institution, a preparatory boarding school, which is geared towards producing professional athletes, was founded in 1978 as the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy and acquired by IMG in 1987.
The Guyana team arrived in Florida on the 30th October, and kicked off its opening match in Group F at 10:30 am on 2nd November, the second day of competition. Down 0 -1, just on the brink of half-time, Guyana eventually lost 0 -4 to Guatemala. Four days later, against the Cayman Islands in another 10:30 am start, Guyana took the lead after five minutes. The Caymanians fought back to snatch a 2 – 1 lead, only for Guyana to tie it before conceding the game by a 3 -2 score line. It was the first ever victory for the Caymanians in the tournament.
In their next encounter on the 8th November, which commenced at 12:45 pm, Guyana faced a tough Curacao side well supported by highly qualified coaches from the Netherlands. Despite scoring first again, the Guyanese found themselves 2 – 3 behind at lemon time. The final score of 4 – 3, in favour of the Dutch, does not reflect how far apart the teams were on the field, as Curacao might have easily notched another three or four goals.
Guyana’s final match versus the undefeated group leaders El Salvador took place last Saturday night at 19:45 pm. In the biggest upset in the group, Guyana dispatched the group leaders 2 – 0, despite losing two players, for their second yellow card infringements, within the last ten minutes of play. The result still meant that Guyana finished in the cellar on three points with a negative goals against difference of minus four (-4).
By all accounts, the Guyanese representatives acquitted themselves well in the circumstances, given the poor planning and execution of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF). Bearing in mind that these Under-20 players will be hitting their peak in eight years’ time, 2026, a World Cup year, one would have thought the GFF would have placed a lot more emphasis on this tournament since these are the players who will form the core group of any serious run at qualifying for the 2026 tournament.
The GFF was well aware long in advance of the location and the playing times for this very important qualifier tournament and yet seemed to have made no adequate preparations. The squad, which comprised twelve locally based players and eight overseas-based, did most of their six-week preparatory training in the afternoons, after 4:00 pm, and were totally unprepared the first three games which took place in the fierce Florida heat.
The coach, Wayne Dover, who was not involved in the selection of the overseas-based players who only joined the squad in the USA, was then placed in the awkward situation of not knowing what his best combination of players were, and hence, was severely handicapped when it came to determining the best approach/formation to adopt on the field.
One would have thought with the large Guyanese community in Orlando, only two hours’ drive away, that the GFF would have arranged for the team to have arrived at a least week earlier in Florida for a few preparatory games in Orlando and used the matches to galvanise support from the overseas-based Guyanese. As it was, only a handful of Guyanese showed up to lend their support, despite the fact that the second game was held on a Sunday and the final encounter was on a Saturday evening.
Most surprisingly, the GFF’s Technical Director, Ian Greenwood, who headed the selection of the overseas players and is responsible for the development of the game, the recently appointed Jaguars National Head Coach Michael Johnson and the GFF President Wayne Forde were all conspicuous by their absence from the tournament. In fact, no senior member of the GFF was in attendance at the tournament, which just goes to show how importantly the GFF viewed this tournament.
To the players, many of whom were on their first trip overseas and proved worthy ambassadors, (the two red-carded players were not sent off for dissent), we offer our congratulations and continued encouragement for their development. The Coach, who was handicapped with five injured players by the final game, and the team’s management, who could only have played the hand which they were dealt, we applaud their efforts.
The disparity between Guyana and the other teams as evidenced on the field of play in this CONCACAF Under-20 tournament can only be narrowed with the development and execution of a comprehensive coaching programme which has continuity for all players from the Pee Wee level to the national team.
When will we begin to see serious long-term planning and execution by the GFF? How can they determine a course of action if no one is there at the most important tournament that should have been the basis of the plans for the next eight years?
Which begs the question how can we put in place standards and measurements to hold our sport associations accountable for their actions, and or, lack thereof?
