Boreham Wood duo Ricky Shakes and Sam Cox were unable to drag Guyana into the third round of CONCACAF’s qualification process for the 2018 World Cup.
The Golden Jaguars were dumped out by St Vincent and the Grenadines on away goals after drawing 6-6 on aggregate.
However, Wood enforcer Cox almost failed to make his debut after only receiving his Guyanese citizenship in time for the second leg in the early hours of Monday morning.
The former Barnet midfielder – along with Bolton Wanderers’ Neil Danns, former Fulham and Millwall defender Matthew Briggs and Leicester City striker Marcel Barrington – all received their passports in time to feature in Monday’s second leg, which ended 4-4 in Guyana.
Cox played the full 90 minutes and picked up two assists, whilst Shakes – who had scored his third international goal in Wednesday’s 2-2 draw in St Vincent – came off the bench for Guyana but could not help his country into round three of the qualifying process.
— Samuel Peter Cox (@TheSamCox) June 10, 2015
Off to the Passport office...Let's see what the verdict is...🕔👀😶 pic.twitter.com/1s3f1VlqOV
— Samuel Peter Cox (@TheSamCox) June 12, 2015
GOT EM at last!!! Officially Guyanese citizens! @dannzy1 @matthewbriggs17 Roll on Sunday!!! #GoldenJaguars 🐆🙌 pic.twitter.com/gI6Ls0B7oi
— Samuel Peter Cox (@TheSamCox) June 12, 2015
St. Vincent and the Grenadines will now compete in another knockout-round game in order to compete in the final round of qualifying, where nations including Mexico and the USA join the competition in a league format.
Guyana are currently ranked 153rd in the world rankings, while St. Vincent and the Grenadines are up in 134th.
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