Visas delay Guatemala footballers

The Guatemalans reportedly were unable to travel to Jamaica in time for the match at Jarrett Park due to a delay in the receiving their passports from the British Embassy back home on time.

According to Guatemalan FA spokesman Rafael Rinoco, the passports were with the British Embassy in Guatemala City being processed for visas for spokesman for the interim Guatemala Football Association.

The same passports will be used for the team to travel to the Caribbean for their CONCACAF World Cup qualifier against Trinidad and Tobago on August 3.

"... We were told by the embassy that the passports won’t be ready until Friday afternoon and that would be too late to make the trip to Jamaica for the match," said Rinoco who is also the president of UNCAF.

Meanwhile, with TT’s footballers scheduled to take to the training pitch from Tuesday with Leo Beenhakker at the helm, Guatemalan coach Ramon Maradiaga has said that his team would be hoping to spoil any hopes of a local party next Saturday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo.

He said he is also aware of the hype surrounding the return of midfielder Russell Latapy to the team.

Maradiaga said his team had no intentions of holding back against the Warriors particularly after their confidence boosting come-from-behind 2-1 win over Panama in their last qualifier.

And they are holding their heads high following the 5-1 win over a Bertille St Clair coached TT in March.

"We are going to play against a direct rival in the World Cup qualification race. The others are Costa Rica and Panama. For the moment we must forget United States and Mexico as they are out of our reach," Maradiaga said.

"Right now we are playing a four-team tournament and we are going to face Trinidad which has gained very much respect and many other things with (Leo) Beenhakker as coach. But we will not fear them even though they are at home. We know they will be anxious for a good result but we are also ready for this match," he added.

Missing from this match will be defender Pablo Melgar who is serving a double yellow card suspension.

Mardiaga will continue with two sessions per day from this weekend up until Wednesday and will then arrive with his team in Port-of-Spain on Thursday.

Latapy along with the other UK-based pros will arrive on Tuesday while skipper Dwight Yorke and Silvio Spann get here a day earlier.

Beenhakker’s squad for Saturday’s match will be announced shortly. The full squad will be in training from Tuesdayat the Hasely Crawford Stadium.

Guatemalan team:

Goalkeepers — Miguel Klee Coban, Luis Molina (Jalapa), Paulo Motta (Municipal)

Defenders — Angel Sanabria (Comunicaciones), Elmer Ponciano (Jalapa), Nelson Morales (Coban), Victor Hernandez (Xelaju), Selvyn Ponciano (Municipal), Gustavo Cabrera (Real Salt Lake (MLS))

Midfielders — Fredy Thompson (Comunicaciones), Rigoberto Gomez (Comunicaciones), Maynor Davila (Comunicaciones), Julio Giron (Municipal), Gonzalo Romero (Municipal), Carlos Figueroa (Municipal), Fredy Garcia (Municipal), Guillermo Ramirez (LA Galaxy (MLS)

Forwards — Juan Carlos Plata (Municipal), Edwin Villatoro (Suchitepequez), Carlos Ruiz (FC Dallas (MLS)