(ABOVE) Gregory Rigters scored the only goal in Suriname's 1-0 win over visiting Guyana in an international friendly on April 30, 2014, in Paramaribo.
PARAMARIBO, Suriname – Suriname gave Dean Gorre a perfect start to his tenure as head coach, posting a 1-0 win over 10-man Guyana in an international friendly on Thursday night at Andre Kamperveen Stadium.
In a game featuring locally-based players, Gregory Rigters’ powerful right-footed effort in the 24th minute proved to be the difference.
Prior to that strike, Guyana was reduced a player after Clive Nobrega received a straight red card in the 12th minute for a dangerous tackle on Miguel Cronie, who was stretchered off the field and taken to a local hospital for further examination.
“All in all we scored a good goal and then I could see Guyana was tired the further we played the game,” said Gorre. “We started controlling the game more, which you should expect with a team playing with eleven against ten and I’m happy that I’ve done my first game with a win.”
Guyana head coach Jamaal Shabazz complimented Suriname on its performance and was also satisfied with his team’s effort.
“It was always going to be difficult playing with ten men after ten minutes and I thought they played with a lot of grit and determination,” said the 51-year-old Trinidadian. “All in all, in the end, I thought Eon Alleyne almost pulled it back for us, so it was a good experience for us to play under these conditions. But I would I would have loved us to play with eleven players in this game.”
Both nations are preparing for round two play of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying for Russia 2018. In the first of two-game series, the Surinamese will play at Nicaragua on June 7, while Guyana visits St. Vincent & the Grenadines three days later.
