The search is on for new T&T football stars.
By: Shaun Fuentes (TTFF).“To find a new Latas” That could well be one of the hopes in the back of the minds of the senior heads around or involved in Trinidad and Tobago football these days as the countyr’s national under 17 footballers prepare to take on the world from Monday.
As the days leading up to the kick off continue, there has been much talk in the media here in Korea about the current stars in world football who have passed through the Under 17 ranks.
From Ronaldo to Adriano, Diego and Carlos Teves from 2001 in Trinidad, Luis Figo and USA’s Landon Donovon, they have all played in past FIFA Under 17 tournaments and the world now is waiting to see who will evolve from the Korea finals.. For the first time in 22 years, this tournament will have 24 nations competing, putting it on par with the Under 20 World Cup which is FIFA second biggest world event.
While T&T’s own Dwight Yorke played at the Under 20 Finals in Portugal in 1991, the name Kenwyne Jones can also be in the same category with him having played at the 2001 Under 17 finals in TT. But in a casual conversation on the team bus yesterday, the topic was about the search for another someone like another Yorke or Russell Latapy to come into the national ranks again and the timing is right with T&T’s participation on the world stage from next week.
Former national goalie Ross Russell reminisced about his days on the national team with Yorke and Latapy and he particularly referred to Latapy’s presence,a commanding one which earned the love, admiration and more importantly the respect of the people, particularly his teammates. At the moment, Sunderland’s Carlos Edwards is the new and possibly only marquee player in the making with Jones not far behind but they are both around the mid 20 age range. With each of the players around now at the Under 17 level, if two or three were to make it to higher heights from this, they will be around 22 or 23 years of age by the time the 2014 World Cup comes around.
Like “Latas” said in a recent interview… “Sometimes you don’t miss stuff until you are away from it and you go back into it. So there was a lot of stuff that I really enjoyed at the World Cup because I knew to myself it was going to be the last time that I was going to experience this as a player. So yes I miss being with my friends. I missed the atmosphere of being in the dressing room for games, for training. I also missed the hype of a build up to big games and I miss seeing Trinidad buzzing before a football game especially when we go on to get a good result.”
And those things said are the same that the masses back home will miss with Latapy’s exit from the T&T team. And someone able to have that sort of presence is sorely needed as the country looks ahead to the 2010 and 2014 World Cups. At the moment, under 17 skipper Leston Paul is leading the race to becoming such a player. The team possesses a captain who has demonstrated strong maturity for his age and he has been able to control the emotions of the boys thus far, his style of communication both on and off the pitch has been impressive and his conversations with Corneal and Wim Rijsbergen suggests that he is definitely a trooper in the making for T&T football.
Then there’s forward Marcus Joseph and forward turn central defender Daniel Cyrus who have both come on strongly in the last few weeks as well as talented midfielder/striker Kevin Molino and striker Stephen Knox also making impressions. And already midfielder Sean De Silva has been offered a scholarship to attend Charleston College before a ball has even been kicked in Korea and agents in Holland have also been enquiring about some others in the T&T squad. And the experience Paul others will gain from this tourney could only serve as an extra boost.
Shaun Fuentes in Cheonan, August 17, 2007. See captions at end of photos.
Striker Marcus Joseph
Skipper Leston Paul
Winger Aaron Maund
Ross Russell does an exercise with goalie Glenroy Samuel
Sheldon Bateau watches Jean Luc Rochford
Corneal speaks to his players
The Warm up
Tactical training
The match balls
Rijsbergen urges on Stefan Campbell and Akeem Adams
Corneal watches the play
Robert Primus and Sean De Silva in the heat
Striker Daniel Joseph gets ready
Aubrey David closes in on Primus
Rijsbergen shouts at Kevin Molino and Micah Lewis
Jack Warner addresses the team at its hotel on Friday
Warner meets captain Paul
Warner meets De Silva and listens to Corneal
