SAN JOSE, Costa Rica -- Under the bright lights of Costa Rica's Estadio Nacional on Tuesday evening, the curtain will close on Guyana's quest to reach Brazil for the 2014 World Cup finals.  The Golden Jaguars opened qualifying with a magnificent five-game unbeaten streak that included four victories.  A loss or draw against the Ticos means they will end their participation winless in seven-consecutive outings.

Head coach Jamaal Shabazz took some time to his assess his team's overall performance.

"Today, we end our campaign with a desire to do our best," said the Trinidad-born Shabazz, who also leads CONCACAF Champions League side Caledonia AIA.  "The entire journey has been eye opening and enlightening, which has had it's high and low moments.

"But we are determined to see it through to the end.  We have seen we can compete, but to sustain our efforts we need more tactical discipline and focus on the task."

To demonstrate that point, on Friday, in Houston, Texas, Guyana held Mexico scoreless until the 78th minute, before conceding five goals during an eight-minute period and ultimately ending up on the wrong side of a 5-0 scoreline.  The loss officially eliminated the Guyanese from Group B contention.

Noel Adonis, General Secretary of the Guyana Football Federation, has been happy with the national squad, though, especially considering how far it advanced into the competition.

"I think our team has played consistently well so far, and they played consistently well at home and abroad," he said.

In their first meeting last June, Costa Rica toppled Guyana 4-0 thanks to a three-goal show by Alvaro Saborio.  The result followed an optimism-inducing 3-1 loss to Mexico before 80,000 at the imposing Estadio Azteca.

The Golden Jaguars would like to do nothing more than put aside recent results and end qualifying on the best note possible.  They will have to do that without Chris Nurse, their suspended captain, who has scored two goals in nine games.