GFF focusing on youth
- General Secretary Rutherford
By Steve Ninvalle
Stabroek News
November 26, 2003
The Guyana Football Federation's (GFF) policy of focusing on youth development has resulted in several players, who are on semi-professional and professional contracts overseas, not being selected as part of a senior national squad.
National captain Charles `Lily' Pollard is among several Guyanese players on semi-professional contracts in Trinidad and Tobago who have not found favour with the selectors.
GFF General Secretary, George Rutherford, said that his organisation is concentrating on youth and very excellent seniors, hence the composition of the squad.
Howard Lowe, Abassy McPherson, Troy Richards and Randolph `Blackhead' Jerome all of whom, with the exception of Richards were on the last senior national squad, were not named when 27 seniors were chosen to join with the national Under-23 team from which a senior team will be selected.
In addition, midfielder Jermine Browne, who plays for Robin Hood in Suriname did not make the squad. "The GFF's policy is that we focus on youth development. Our concentration will be on youth and very excellent seniors. We are not only looking at the 2006 World Cup but further on," Rutherford told Stabroek Sport.
A 26-member senior squad will be named on December 4 and start training on January 15 for competition in the World Cup preliminary.
"If our focus was only on the 2006 World Cup then we may have gone with a different configuration. We are clearly blooding youngsters," the general secretary said.
"Of course we would like to give a good performance leading up to the 2006 World Cup but we have to look beyond that to the World Cups of 2010 and 2014."
Recently, Technical Director Neider Dos Santos disclosed that the Under-23 team, which had a Cinderella run before meeting Costa Rica in the second round of the Olympic Qualifier, would be the backbone of the senior squad. The Brazilian opined that the Under-23s could make up 60 to 80 percent of the senior side.
Preliminary round World Cup matches will be held in the CONCACAF region during the first quarter of 2004.