History, Revenge Await for Omari Glasgow and Guyana
Two weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the world, a 16-year-old Omari Glasgow led the Golden Jaguars of Guyana out onto the pitch at Nicaragua's Estadio Nacional. It was a winner-takes-all Under-20 World Cup Qualifying match, and a solid crowd turned out in Managua despite the hot and humid weather.
Unfortunately for Glasgow, who was playing up an age group, and his Guyana team, a fierce effort wasn't enough. Nicaragua emerged victorious in a tight 1-0 game, and it saw them qualify for the final stage of a CONCACAF tournament that would, ultimately, never happen.
More than five years on, the two nations will face off once again in the same stadium. However, this time, the stakes are so high that this could be viewed as the biggest game in the footballing history of both countries – Guyana and Nicaragua.
"It's a really big game for both countries," a now-21-year-old Glasgow told MIR97 Media last week. "Both of us are taking it seriously. I know what it means in my countries, and we're going to have to go there and work hard to stay alive."
Neither Guyana nor Nicaragua has ever even come remotely close to World Cup Qualification at the senior level. Guyana once reached the penultimate round of qualifying in 2014 but didn't win a single one of their six games. The closest Nicaragua has come was also in 2014, when they squandered a 2-0 lead to Jamaica one round earlier. Nonetheless, the winner of Friday's game will almost certainly find themselves in the final round of World Cup Qualifiers in CONCACAF – and, theoretically, six games away from a first-ever FIFA World Cup final ticket.
If Guyana are going to do it – go into a hostile Managua environment and stun the home team – they'll lean heavily on their young leader. Glasgow is adjusting to life in his first season at the MLS level with the Chicago Fire, but in Guyana, he is already one of the nation's greatest-ever players. At 21, Glasgow is Guyana's all-time leading goalscorer, having already racked up 20 goals in 30 international games, but his feet are still very much on the ground.
"I just think that I've been putting all the work in and getting results for the country and continuing to help them, that's the most important thing," Glasgow said. "Previously, there weren't a lot of people coming to our games. Now, we have a lot of people coming out since we got promoted (to CONCACAF Nations League A). So that's a big step."
While Nicaragua are historically just as much of a footballing minnow in CONCACAF as Guyana, they're by no means an easy opponent. Los Pinoleros are currently sitting atop the group by virtue of a pair of four-goal wins over Montserrat and Belize last summer, with goal difference keeping them ahead of group favorite Panama.
At the center of it all could be Glasgow's opposing #10, Harold Medina, who, at 23, is similarly considered Nicaragua's top talent. The Real Estelí midfielder played and starred in the U-20 qualifying win in 2020 and is now maturing into a key figure for the senior team. Glasgow is very familiar with Medina as a player because of his recent performances in various CONCACAF competitions over the last few years, so the battle between the two young #10s will be an intriguing one.
"It does motivate me a little bit, to be honest," Glasgow said of the memory of the 2020 game. "I'm not trying to go there and lose again... I think it's going to be a good game, and we're up for the challenge."
The earlier rounds of World Cup Qualifying in the more remote parts of the globe are arguably soccer in its purest form – two countries pitted against each other in a full stadium with a loud vibrant crowd, reaching for big dreams even if they seem so far away. But for these two teams, including Glasgow and his Golden Jaguars, history could be just around the corner.
"(Getting to the final round) would mean a lot, not just to me, but to the whole team," Glasgow said. "It's a whole team effort, a team sport, so it's going to take everyone to do it. I'm going to do my part, the rest of the players will do their part, and the fans will support us."
Read more:
https://meninred97.com/guyanas-omari-glasgow-energizes-nyc-crowd/
