Connection ready to defend T&T Pro League.
By: Lasana Liburd (Express).Trinidad and Tobago national coach Wim Rijsbergen, like his Dutch predecessor and former boss Leo Beenhakker, has done little to ingratiate himself with his T&T Pro League counterparts.
Another emphatic defeat for the "Soca Warriors"-the national outfit fell 4-0 away to Costa Rica on February 4-brought a trademark snipe at the quality of the local game by Rijsbergen.
"I don't know if a lot of these players can make the next step," the ex-Holland international told the Express. "It was not a hard game... You see the level these players come from, and the big problem they have in coming up to the next level.
"We need to look at the Pro League. If they drop back in the same speed and the same level in the Pro League, they will probably never make the difference."
Vibe CT105 W Connection coach Stuart Charles-Fevrier, for one, did not appreciate the negative sentiments.
"The Pro League has taken a bold, progressive step in trying to take football forward," said Fevrier, "by allowing players, coaches and administrators to be involved in the sport full-time, which is very positive. Why would anyone want to degrade that?"
Connection, the 2005 Pro League champions, will hope to give a more tangible retort on Tuesday night when they host Mexican club, Chivas Guadalajara, at Marabella's Manny Ramjohn Stadium in the first of a two-leg series in the 2007 CONCACAF Club Championship.
Word that the south Trinidad-based outfit will be the country's flag bearers might provoke snickers in some quarters-not least by two other imported national coaches, Scotsman Ian Porterfield and Brazilian Rene Simoes.
Porterfield and his successor, Simoes, moaned about Connection's penchant for packing their team with expatriates at the start of the century. But Fevrier pointed out that the club have made great strides towards shedding their image as bulk shoppers in South America.
The Brazilian duo of playmaker Gefferson Goulart (29) and left back William Oliviera (22) and combative Colombian midfielder Christian Viveros are likely to feature on Tuesday, while the St Lucian pair of team captain Earl Jean (35) and Elijah Joseph (31) complete the foreign element of the first team.
"We are really excited about this (present) team because half the team is young and from our youth programme," said the St Lucia-born coach.
Connection should start six Trinidad and Tobago players against Guadalajara. Right back Nicholson Thomas is the oldest of the lot at just 24 while goalkeeper Jan-Michael Williams (22), stopper Devon Drayton (20), striker Dwight Scott (22) and midfielders Andrei Pacheco (22) and Hughton Hector (22) complete the likely starting line-up.
Forward Andre Toussaint (25), who is recovering from injury, and attacker Brenton De Leon (22) would hope for playing time off the substitutes' bench.
Spare a thought, too, for the injured midfield duo of Silvio Spann and Clyde De Leon who already wore red, white and black shirts.
"When we started, most of the (other) clubs already had the best local players," said club owner, David J Williams, who is not related to his young goalkeeper, "so we had to go abroad (for players) to compete. But we also started our youth programme and you are now seeing the benefit of that."
Williams (J-M), an international regular for Rijsbergen and one of the club's two vice-captains and the 2006 Pro League Player of the Year, is the pick of the bunch at present and will soon have another chance to enhance his reputation.
Guadalajara, who thrashed Boca Juniors 4-0 two years ago for the first of consecutive top four finishes in the Copa Libertadores-South America's answer to Europe's Champions League-are considered Mexico's figurehead club and should play a refined version of the fluent, short passing game that terrorised Rijsbergen's troops in Costa Rica. But Fevrier is not scared.
Four years ago, Connection led another powerful Mexican club, Toluca, 2-0 by the halfway mark before his team choked in the high altitude-45 minutes west of Mexico City-and succumbed 3-2, while the second leg finished 3-3 in Marabella.
"We can play just as well as these teams," said the Connection coach. "The main difference is that we tend to make more mistakes than they do. The key is to concentrate well and eliminate silly errors."
Mexican teams have held the CONCACAF club trophy 20 times from its 37 editions while no Caribbean team advanced past the quarterfinal stage in 16 years. But Trinidad and Tobago clubs are still far from cannon fodder.
Defence Force remain the only club from the English-speaking Caribbean to win the title, which they managed in 1985, but the army/coast guard unit were also losing finalists in 1988, while only a coin toss denied them a spot in the 1978 finals.
Another government service team, Police, were the last local squad to appear in the CONCACAF Club Championship finals, which they did in 1991.
A positive result for Connection on Tuesday would be a sizable step towards emulating the great Trinidad and Tobago teams of yesteryear. It would be a timely remainder of the quality of the local game to a certain Dutchman as well.
The Mexicans are here...and ready for Connection.
By: Joel Villafana (ttproleague).[/size]
Mexican Club Champions Chivas are here and are eager to get the show on the road. The Mexican champion club arrived at the Piarco International Airport just about 9.35 A.M. on Sunday morning ahead of their first leg clash against Trinidad and Tobago’s vibe ct 105 W Connection in the CONCACAF champions cup quarter final round.
The two teams will meet on Tuesday at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella from 8 p.m. before they head to Mexico for the return leg of the home and away series on February 28.
Chivas boasts of having six Mexican national players, in their squad, and according to head coach Jose Manuel De Latorre, who was speaking through a translator, he said the entire squad is Mexican.
“The entire team are all Mexican nationals, we have no foreigners and there are at least about six of our players on the national team,” confirmed the Chivas Head Coach.
“We are well prepared for this encounter and we are eager and ready to get things going,” like his opposite number Stuart Charles Fervier, the Mexican coach admitted he does not know much about W Connection.
“We don’t know much about W Connection, but we have seen some video on them and we were able to see their style of play.”
“I am confident in my team’s ability and I know they will do their best and I believe we can come here and get a positive result ahead of the return match in Mexico,” said the champion Mexican coach.
This will be the first time W Connection will meet Chivas, the Pro League giants met Mexican opposition back in 2004 when they faced Toluca FC, where they battled to a 3-3 draw at home only to be beaten 3-2 in Mexico.
W Connection were recently crowned Caribbean Club Champions after defeating local rivals San Juan Jabloteh 1-0 in the finals, and booked their place among CONCACAF finest club teams in 2007.
Chivas however, has a proud history at the CONCACAF Champions Cup, having appeared five times in the tournament, and boasts of being crowned the first ever CONCACAF club champions back in 1962, their last appearance in the competition was back in 1997 where they were kicked out at the semi-final stage.
Chivas qualified for the 2007 tournament, by winning the 2006 Mexican league, and the Jose Manuel De La Torre coached team is the most successful Mexican club team having won the national league eleven times, the most by any Mexican team.
Mexicans arrive at the Piarco International Airport
Poll