Olympic footballers head to sister-isle for training camp.
By: Shaun Fuentes (TTFF).[/size]
Trinidad and Tobago Olympic team coach Michael McComie will carry a 24-man squad for a one week training camp in Tobago from Tuesday as the local bunch continues its preparations for Caribbean Football Union Olympic qualifying series slate for Suriname in late August.
McComie, the TTFF’s “Coach of the Year” for 2006, has a number of prominent faces in his team from the local scene including a few who have had experience at the senior international level. Striker Kendall Jagdeosingh and Keon Daniel were part of the T&T Senior team that took part in the recent CONCACAF Gold Cup. Silas Spann and Hayden Tinto have also had stints with the senior team. The duo of Lester Peltier and Atullah Guerra is also in the mix and both are awaiting the approval of work permits before heading off to England to take up moves with Portsmouth FC. Peltier had a stint with Arsenal a few weeks back.
Tobago-born midfielder Devon Leacock, formerly of the T&T Under 17 team at the 2001 FIFA Under 17 World Championship is also back in the fray and is the lone Tobago United player in the squad. US-based striker Stefan St Louis, who joined T&T’s Under 20 team previously for its playoffs with Jamaica is also in the squad.
McComie said the pool consists of 26 players but two have been left out for the camp in the sister-isle which runs until next Sunday and includes training at the Dwight Yorke Stadium and games against Tobago United at the same venue on Tuesday at 3:30 pm at the said venue and then again on Friday against Angostura 1976 Phoenix FC.
“Right now we are trying to get the strongest possible team for the qualifiers in Suriname. The main purpose of this camp is to get certain things in place with regards to the formation and pattern of play. We have not had much time to train with only one session per week in the past because of the Pro League also going on at this time,” McComie told TTFF Media.
“The squad is not where it should be in terms of its intensity and that again is because of the lack of training time which we intend to make up for with this camp and a couple others to follow before we leave for Suriname.
“We hope that some of the more experienced guys will contribute in a positive manner. Their determination must be commended and they are all willing to work hard. The problem we have now is that they are still playing a bit too slow and we are working on correcting that part of our game. The transition in terms of getting the ball back and the method of play in that area is way too slow. But there is a lot of competition for places especially in the forward department. We have seven forwards competing for four spots,” McComie added.
T&T will come up against host Suriname, Guyana and Netherlands Antilles from August 31-September 4 with the top team advancing to the CFU final round. Subsequent winners will then move on to the final CONCACAF stage leading up to the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
The Squad:
Christon Thomas, Corneal Thomas (Superstar Rangers); Larry Bacchus, Simeon Augustus, Devon Drayton, Keon Daniel, Kevon Rouse (United Petrotrin); Silas Spann (Joe Public); Devon Leacock (Tobago United); Marcus Ambrose, Carlyle Mitchell, McKenzie Cadette, Hayden Tinto (Caledonia AIA); Kevin Mussio, Carlon Murray, Lester Peltier, Atullah Guerra (San Juan Jabloteh); Shane Calderon, Kareem Gray (W Connection); Christopher Sam (Police FC); Stefan St Louis (US-based); Kendall Jagdeosingh (North East Stars).
