T&T juniors go Dutch.
By: Fifa.Com[/size]
A little over a year ago, euphoria was the watchword surrounding Trinidad & Tobago's football. Dwight Yorke, Stern John, Shaka Hislop and Co. did their steady best in their first-ever FIFA World Cup. A draw in their opener against heavily fancied Sweden and a slim 2-0 loss to England (the scoreline flattered the English) were enough for Dutchman Leo Beenhakker and his charges to head for home feeling they'd done well more than expectations demanded.
Since then, though, something of a cloud has descended over the dual-island nation's football. Fancied to take their ninth Caribbean Cup of Nations on home soil in January of 2007, the Soca Warriors were defeated by Haiti in the Final in Port of Spain. Then they headed to the showpiece CONCACAF Gold Cup in the USA with a weakened side. Predictably, they were bounced out in the first round with only one point to show for their efforts.
Mercifully though, the more cheerful and homespun face of the nation's football is back on display. Bonuses, salaries and financial concerns are not part of the debate as T&T's junior team gets set for a trip to the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Korea. First up for the young Warriors - who qualified for Korea with tight qualifying wins over Canada and Jamaica - is a training trip to the Lowlands.
The 21-strong squad arrived on Monday in Arnhem in Eastern Holland with head coach Anton Corneal and senior team coach Wim Rijsbergen - successor to fabled former boss and current Poland manager Beenhakker. Also in the travelling party in Holland is senior T&T goalkeeper coach Jan Jongbloed, who played in the Dutch national team salad days of the 1970s with Rijsbergen.
The young island amateurs were also surprised to run into La Liga stars upon their arrival at the camp, as Athletic Bilbao are holding a pre-season training stint in the same facilities.
"This is just perfect for us," said Corneal, the former T&T international burdened with the charge of improving on the last U-17 finals journey, where the team posted three straight losses as hosts in 2001. "It has all the settings and it's the right type of atmosphere for athletes in training."
First up for the side will be a stern test against De Graafschap's under-18 squad, a match that should give some indication as to their physical and mental state heading into the 24-team Korean finals which start on 18 August with a massive opener against African side Ghana.
After their stay in Arnhem, the team will head off for another long air journey to the Far East. Corneal's approach heading into the finals is similar to the mindset that surrounded the senior side's first-ever trip to a FIFA World Cup last summer. The coach is fond of saying, "It's not about the size of the dog in the fight...but the size of the fight in the dog."
The Trinidadians will no doubt be underdogs as they face off with Ghana, Germany and Colombia in a tricky looking Group F that many are calling the 'group of death.' But it will be no deterrent, according to the coach.
In his squad will be some highly rated local talent looking to make a mark on the world stage and possibly follow the lead of countrymen Dwight Yorke, Russell Latapy and Stern John with lucrative overseas contracts.
One Soca Warrior who stood out at Germany 2006 and made a big name in England with both West Ham United and Newcastle United is Shaka Hislop. The big man was keen to extend his best wishes for the young guns "I have always been a fan of the young local talent in our country," he said. "I'm proud to see this team has gone on to make a youth World Cup and I hope they make a dent."
Expected to make their mark in Korea are the likes of fleet-footed San Juan Jabloteh strike duo Stephen Knox and Daniel Joseph. Expectations will also weigh heavily on the shoulders of captain and team leader Leston Paul of club side Defence Force. All of the 21 youngsters in the squad play their club or school football in either Trinidad or Tobago, with one notable exception: Aaron Maund lives and plays in Boston in the USA.
When asked about the tough teams in their group and how he thinks his side can fair, the coach was cautiously confident in his overall predictions. "We have countries in there with maybe more of a footballing reputation," Corneal concluded. "But I think we have had good enough exposure and we are also a World Cup nation now after last summer. Our players are ready."
Tough task ahead.
By: Kern de Freitas (Express).[/size]
Under-17s at Youth World Championships.
So, Trinidad and Tobago are off to another World Cup. What should we expect of 21 brave young Under-17 players in a sport which T&T are trying to establish themselves in internationally?
That's a tough question to answer. For those Trinis "to the Bone", those diehard fans painted from head to toe in patriotism, it's easy to be subjective and say the current crop of youngsters are going to take the World by storm.
To add further fuel to the flames of optimism, one could argue that most people did not expect them to even get to the World Youth Under-17 Championships. Granted, I'll give you that.
Once things get started in Korea, it will soon become apparent that teams will not have much respect for T&T as a football unit. More than likely, they will not take any chances to be beaten by a lesser fancied outfit. Perhaps they will even exercise a daub of caution, not on viewing the young "Soca Warriors" colours of war, probably more on account of their senior compatriots' bright showing at the World Cup Finals in Germany last year.
That's about as much respect as they get. The rest, they'll have to earn.
Don't get me wrong. Everyone starting the tournament will have an equal chance to impress. The optimist in me hopes dearly that T&T use their chance to make their mark on the World. Judging from their performance against the national Under-23s last week, though, they still have some way to go.
Coach Anton Corneal himself was not completely satisfied with the way his young charges handled a tough battle against their older countrymen.
"Physically it was a tough game," Corneal related following the encounter, "it was the type of game we wanted.
"But... I think we struggled a little bit in our central defence, and it makes me re-think some of the things that we are doing, and probably even player personnel in the sense of who should start in that position."
At this 9th hour, any coach would be far from comfortable to have these considerations in front of him.
Corneal also pointed out some major areas of concern, which could make, or break T&T's ambitions.
"One of my worries was some of the goalkeeping, kicking out the ball." Corneal explained. "Both goalkeepers. If you look at the first half, how many times he kicked and the ball reached on the ground. That's a problem."
Truth be told, a lot of the mistakes made in that encounter could be rightly attributed to big game jitters. These youngster also have a hungry appetite, and so far, they've showed a never-say-die attitude that has gotten them this far. They also know each other inside out. They've been together long enough.
But the real test comes in Korea, and there can be no bigger stage for these youngsters to get big game jitters. There's not much more they can learn at this point; they scarcely have nine days to fine tune what they've already gleaned. A couple of friendlies in Holland they'll get, and perhaps a third against what Corneal is hoping will be an African Under-17 opponent. Hopefully that will be enough.
T&T struggled against CONCACAF powerhouses USA and Costa Rica. They placed third in the group to grab the fifth and final spot in the region to get in the Championships by a magical Kevin Molino goal over qualifying hosts, Jamaica. But this is also the first time a T&T Under-17 team has qualified for the tournament, and that in itself is a great achievement.
T&T face the mighty Germans, the fiesty Colombians, and the physical, pacy Ghanains in three tough Group F encounters. But being the unknowns does carry with it a sort of mystical charm. They've got little to lose and so much to gain. And in an international competition such as this, they also carry the weight of 1.3 million people on their growing shoulders.
Corneal is "aware", and sharing that knowledge with his young players, in the hope they will be inspired enough to swim against the tide of traditional World football.
"In the middle I thought that's where we struggled," he said of the match against the Under-23s. "Our players did not want to commit in central defence, and it caused a lot of problems. Again that is something we are working on...We are aware. But being aware is not enough. We have to solve those problems."
Truer words have not been spoken, and perhaps they will rub off enough to give local fans something to cheer about, and the Sport and Youth Affairs Minister Roger Boynes, another reason to book the VIP Lounge of Piarco International Airport with a verve laden with celebratory undertones, within the next few weeks.
So to the war cry: "The more we sweat in peace time, the least we bleed in war! Side come to dead-Kill Them! Who are we T&T!"
Good Luck to T&T in the tournament; I'll be watching all the way.
