Interim Guyana national team head coach Marcio Maximo has called Forge FC goalkeeper Quillan Roberts up to the Guyanese national team ahead of the country’s CONCACAF Nations League matches against Aruba and Jamaica.

Roberts, 24, made his debut for Guyana in the 2019 Gold Cup after he and then-Forge FC striker Emery Welshman were both called up for The Golden Jaguars. He made his international debut for them in a 1-1 draw against Trinidad and Tobago, helping the country secure its only point of the tournament.

Roberts had actually played for Canada once in 2015, though he only appeared for five minutes during a friendly against Puerto Rico. Due to his father’s Guyanese heritage, he was eligible for a FIFA one-time registration switch which he made this summer.

This time around, Roberts is the only player with ties to Forge FC to get called up for Guyana: Mississauga-born Emery Welshman isn’t on the 20-man shortlist. Given that he’s scored seven goals in nine games for the national team, his omission from the 20-man shortlist is a pretty glaring one.

When Roberts was previously on international duty, his club brought in 19-year-old Sigma FC goalkeeper Baj Maan as an emergency backup goalkeeper. Baj is now heading to Northern Kentucky University, so it’ll be interesting to see who Forge FC calls up as a backup goalkeeper while Roberts is away this time around.

The 24-year-old goalkeeper has made six starts for Forge FC this season, finding himself second-choice behind 25-year-old Canadian goalkeeper Triston Henry. Roberts most recently helped the hammer to a clean sheet in a 1-0 win over spring season winners Cavalry FC on August 25. The result solidified the Hamilton-based club’s top spot in the fall season table with two games in hand.

There’s only one other Canadian Premier League player that has been called up to the tournament, and he’s also a goalkeeper: Cavalry FC shotstopper Marco Carducci became the first CPL player to get called up to the Canadian national team last week. Head coach John Herdman also admitted that Tristan Borges and Ryan Telfer were on his radar, with the latter facing a national team dilemma of his own.

Guyana will play away to Aruba on September 6, and home to Jamaica on September 9. That means it’s safe to assume he’ll be away for Forge FC’s match against Pacific FC on September 4 and the next match against local rivals York9 FC on September 8.

After that, Guyana will resume Nations League action in early October, which means Forge FC may find itself without Roberts as the season comes to a close, too.

Now that OneSoccer is streaming the 2019-2020 CONCACAF Nations League in full, fans can tune in all of Guyana’s Nations League games (among over a hundred others from the tournament) to see how Roberts fares in the international tournament.

Source: Guyana Football Federation