Victory good for more than one reason
… says GFF president
By Isaiah Chappelle
Guyana Chronicle
September 9, 2003
PRIDE: Fans with the Golden Arrowhead congratulate the National Under-23 players. Captain Shawn Beveney sports the number 13 gear.
PRESIDENT of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Colin Klass said Guyana’s resounding 4-1 victory over Barbados in the first leg of the Olympic qualifying series on Sunday at Blairmont ground, was good for more than one reason.
In the first international football match at the West Berbice ground, better known as a cricket venue, Guyana sparked in the second half to give the country more than a flicker of hope of advancing to the next round for the first time.
“Quite a lot of effort was put into reforming the game. It was not an easy task … not having the kind of equipment necessary for the job. With all the constraints it was a good victory. It sent a clear message that we are ready to receive help from the community,” Klass told Chronicle Sport yesterday.
Klass said he hoped that with the signal the victory sent, the government, corporate and private business sectors would now come forward and have greater input in the sport.
The GFF head pointed out that the average of the squad was 19 years, thus coupled with the work now being done at the Under-13 and Under-17 levels, in another couple of years the game would reach a high.
One crucial factor leading to the victory was the level of discipline that the members of the squad displayed.
“The players’ discipline was commendable,” Klass said.
Klass attributed that to the no-nonsense approach taken by the technical director Neider Dos Santos.
“Definitely there are some qualities in the Neider. He has a no-nonsense approach. It really enhances discipline. Many coaches today want to be too much of friends of players,” Klass said.
ON the run: Striker Gregory Richardson races to the goal in one of Guyana’s many raids on Barbados. (Delano Williams photos)
The football administrator said that with the strict approach, players eventually come to respect the coach and like him, especially when they see the results of his work.
“His discipline, his ability to instil self-confidence, helped in the total result,” Klass said.
Klass said that Dos Santos was able to make the players understand that playing one’s country was a great honour.
“The pride in the country is surfacing,” Klass said.
But the GFF head said that while the victory showed that work put in was now having results, the work had just started.
“While we are on the road to success, we have not arrived. We have lots and lots of work to do,” Klass said.
Klass disclosed that the GFF was in the process of finalising some international warm-up matches for the squad before the Barbados leg on October 12.
“They will have a minimum of one match, but we are aiming for three,” Klass said.
Guyana has a reciprocal arrangement with St Lucia, while the GFF was negotiating with Trinidad & Tobago and Suriname.
St Lucia should be going to Trinidad & Tobago for a warm-up game there and could head down here in the same tour.
Klass said cost prevented a Trinidadian team from coming here before the first leg, but with two victories against the Bahamas, they may be more likely to come.
“Everybody is crying in terms of costs. As soon you step on the plane, it costs $2 million,” Klass said.
Guyana could next be playing the winner of Belize/Costa Rica tie in the next round, after which the winners would advance to final play-offs in Mexico early next year.