Guyana to face T&T in Santo Domingo to kick off Concacaf Qualifiers, March 25

Feb 28, 2021 Sports

Bahamas game set for Leonora 5-days later

GFF SMNT Head Coach Márcio Máximo speaking with his charges following the completion of a training session in February of 2020. (Franklin Wilson photo)

Kaieteur News – The Golden Jaguars will commence their quest to win Group F of the Concacaf Qualifying matches for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 with a clash against old rivals Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday March 25, 2021 in Santo Domingo from 19:00hrs at the Estadio Panamericano.
Concacaf released the confirmed match schedule on Friday with the venues and times for matches in Groups A, B, C, D, E and F noting that these First Round matches will involve 30 member associations which will each play two matches on March 24 and 31.
The release went on to say that FIFA will continue to work with all member associations, with the support of Concacaf, to ensure that the health and safety of players, teams, match officials and all stakeholders is given the highest priority for these matches.
In the First Round of the Concacaf Qualifiers, each team will play every other team in their group once, playing a total of four matches in March and the first FIFA match window in June 2021.
At the end of the First Round, the six group winners will progress to the Second Round which will be played in the second FIFA match window in June.
The three winners of the Second Round will progress to the Final Round where they will compete with Mexico, USA, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Jamaica for the region’s 3.5 qualification spots to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
Head Coach Márcio Máximo in an invited comment yesterday noted that the game would be a challenging one for his charges but they are going into the fixture with a positive mindset knowing that neither team would have the privilege of having any fans due to the ongoing challenges presented by the covid-19 pandemic.
“It would be a tough match because Trinidad and Tobago is a strong team, recently they lost to the USA but with local players; probably now they’ll bring all international players to play us but we’ll go there very optimistic of getting a good result. Our team is training and the players are much focused and our objective is to pull off a big surprise.”
The experienced tactician posited that it is very important to make a good start to motivate the team for the remaining group matches stating that they have been preparing a strategy for the game.
“And we hope that we leave there with a good result and that will be replicated against the Bahamas here when we face them in our second match to keep our hopes alive of advancing.”
The local players continue to keep the focus as training continues at the GFF National Training Center, Providence on a weekly basis. The GFF has been trying to pull out all the stops with regards to confirming a few friendly international matches but the covid-19 pandemic continues to be a huge challenge when it comes to moving around.
“But we are still good, we are training hard, the guys have improved a lot so we are very optimistic that when the two groups are joined, international and local players, we will make a good mix and make everyone proud.”
Group F action will however get underway on Wednesday March 24th at the same venue in Santo Domingo when St. Kitts and Nevis tangle with Puerto Rico from 19:00hrs. On Saturday March 27th, The Bahamas would entertain St. Kitts and Nevis at the Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau from 19:00hrs.
Trinidad will then play their second match at their home venue in Santo Domingo against Puerto Rico on Saturday March 28 from 17:00hrs. (Franklin Wilson)