National U20 Women’s Team
National U20 Men’s Team
History beckons for Guyana’s football today when, for the first time in its history at the Under-20 level, the respective male and female teams would both be playing against the same nation in two separate countries.
Yes, some years ago, Guyana had two male senior teams on the road at the same time but not playing against the same nation and not Concacaf competitions.
Today’s, however, the future of the nation at both levels would be on display for the world to see according to Guyana Football Federation (GFF) President, Wayne Forde.
“The name Guyana is clearly on the minds of all Nicaraguans who no doubt understand what a resounding echo will be felt across the entire Concacaf Region if their U20 Men and Women were to go down to our National U20 Men’s and Women’s teams respectively. This is a historic moment for the GFF and despite the result at the final whistle; I am very proud of the players and Coaching Staff and wish them well in today’s encounters.”
While the Men’s U20 Team would be wrapping up their quest to qualify for the championship, the U20 Women would be opening their quest for further glory when they take on Nicaragua at the Olimpico Felix Sánchez in the Dominican Republic from 19:00hrs.
Also in Group D are Mexico and Puerto Rico, which will face off from 16:00hrs in the opener today. A win for both teams would be the perfect gift to the nation as celebrations continue for the Golden Republic Anniversary.
The National U20 Men’s team, already playing against the odds as they do not have their full complement of players, having five (5) fewer than the other nations, 20 each, have already shown great heart by recording three wins to date against Montserrat, St Vincent & the Grenadines and US Virgin Islands with home team Nicaragua to go tonight from 21:30hrs.
Head Coach Wayne Dover has stated that he is backing his charges to deliver the goods come this evening against the home team; the ‘Junior Jaguars’ are getting ready for the final roar and the nation must be behind them on this historic day.
Captain Nicholas Mc Arthur along with his peers as well as the entire Technical Staff are bracing for a positive end to what has certainly been a challenging week.
Head Coach of the Under-20 Female Team, Ivan Joseph had stated earlier in the week that they would have been preparing strategically and are ready for the challenge at hand.
“The coaching staff and players have been hard at work preparing for the upcoming Concacaf Women’s Under 20 championships,” said Coach Ivan Joseph when asked to comment on the team’s preparation so far. “It is our hope that we will make our country and all our fans proud of our effort and commitment on the field. Mexico, Nicaragua, and Puerto Rico are all formidable opponents in our opening Group D round-robin pool. All three teams are ranked ahead of us in our pool with Mexico leading the way as the number two-ranked team in the tournament. We will need to play at our very best and hope to get a bounce or two in our direction to advance to the next round,” he added.
The final squad includes several debutants including Goalkeeper Raven Edwards-Dowdall, Midfielder Shanice Alfred, Forward Makayla Rudder and Defender Anaya Johnson. These four players join a contingent of players who helped Guyana qualify for the U20 Concacaf Championship for the first time in Guyana’s history.
The progress made by the women’s programme has been notable with the U20 and U17 teams both advancing to the Concacaf Championships.