Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Technical Director Bryan Joseph confirmed that recently appointed Men’s U20 Head Coach Kayode McKinnon and Goalkeeper Trainer Richard Reynolds arrived on local shores yesterday and that 13 overseas-based players will participate in the preparatory phase for the impending 2024 CONCACAF Men’s U20 Qualifiers.
This was disclosed during a brief interview yesterday with Stabroek Sport. According to Joseph, “They have arrived today [yesterday]; both are here. We also have a third coach who is an assistant to Kayode, and his name is John Saunders. He has made himself available and is a UEFA A licence holder.”
Joseph disclosed that training will resume today at the National Training Centre in Providence, and several overseas-born or based players will feature during the preparatory phase.
He expounded, “We had one player that arrived on Wednesday and trained with the local group on Thursday; we have four or five players that arrived today [yesterday] and some more arriving tomorrow [today]. 13 have indicated that they will try out for the team.”
Joseph further stated, “We obviously want the national team to be open to anyone who is capable of representing Guyana, so initially we were in discussion and making plans to have some trials in the US, but we didn’t get through with it, and that is how these players are invited to come down. We are always open to giving the opportunity to anyone from any part of the world to represent the country and who is playing at a high level. They must have the same opportunity as the locals. Some of these players would have played at the U15 and U17 levels, but there are also new players who are coming into the system for the first time.”
The Golden Jaguars have been drawn in group B of the qualifiers, which will occur across five venues in the Caribbean and Central America during the period of February 23rd–March 2nd. The teams were seeded in their respective pots based on their current rankings.
The Guyanese, who were seeded in pool 4 of the five-pot selection process, have been paired with El Salvador, Antigua and Barbuda, Suriname, and Turks and Caicos. The matches will be staged in Antigua and Barbuda at the island’s technical centre.
Guyana, which is ranked 27th, will open its campaign against the hosts on February 23rd. They will then oppose El Salvador two days later, before battling Suriname on the 27th. Guyana’s final match will occur on February 29th against the Turks and Caicos.
Meanwhile, group A comprises Cuba, Nicaragua, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, and Anguilla, while group C contains Guatemala, Curacao, Aruba, Saint Martin, and Barbados, and group D consists of Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Dominica.
On the other hand, group E is made up of Haiti, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts and Nevis, and the Cayman Islands, with Jamaica, Bermuda, Grenada, and Martinique comprising group F.
Upon the conclusion of the group stage, the respective pool winner will advance to the 2024 CONCACAF Men’s U-20 Championship, joining the top six seeds that have automatically qualified in the form of the defending champion United States of America, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic.
