Door Opens For Marcus Simmons To Impress Guyana

The Guyana national team is getting a close look at Vancouver FC left-back Marcus Simmons.

The Alberta native has been a fringe player for the Canadian Premier League expansion side since joining in January, with his sole VFC appearance coming against Forge earlier this month.

Head coach Jamaal Shabazz has invited the 22-year-old – along with 27 others – to a training camp in Jamaica set to run until June 5. After that, a selection of 24 will attend a secondary camp in Miami ahead of the country’s Gold Cup preliminary effort.

The gaffer expects the Jamaica camp to prove competitive, with a selection of local and international players fighting for positions. Most of the players have experience national team action before, like former Forge striker Emery Welshman.

Simmons, however, is one of the few fresh faces.

“We have Deon Moore coming out of the UK. He’s certainly going to be a new one. Marcus Simmons, he’s coming out of Canada, a left back. So, they’re a couple new guys that we invited, and we’re looking to see how they mesh,” added the coach, who implied that he won’t be making any broad sweeping changes to the roster.

Simmons turned professional with FC Edmonton last year, making 24 appearances for the club during its final season. Before that, the Edmonton local had turned heads at the U SPORTS level with both York University Lions and MacEwan University.

Guyana is expecting to play two friendlies during its Jamaican camp, one of which will come against a local club. When in the US, they’ll prepare for the Gold Cup with a test against Martinique.

Come June 17, it’s do or die for Guyana’s Gold Cup hopes: they’ll face Grenada in Fort Lauderdale and, should they succeed there, will move on to the second qualification bracket against either Trinidad and Tobago or Guadeloupe just three days later.

Whether Simmons cracks the Golden Jaguars Gold Cup roster ahead of their preliminary match against Grenada remains to be seen, but the training camp invitation is a golden opportunity for him to leave a lasting impression.

Source: Guyana Times

Header Image Photo Credit: Canadian Premier League