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Hart open to foreign-born players.
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TRINIDAD AND Tobago football team coach Stephan Hart has stated he is open to the idea of recruiting foreign-born players with family heritage from the twin island republic to play for the national team, ahead of 2018 World Cup qualification later this year.

Hart used the recent international friendly versus Panama to test out local Pro League players in an attempt to strength his player pool. “I’m all for it (getting foreign players) once the players show an allegiance. But it’s also equally important that we present our selves as professional as possible with our planning to such potential players,” explained Hart. 

It was reported in February that former national midfielder Chris Birchall speaking about 19-year-old Crystal Palace defender Ryan Inniss as an option for the “Soca Warriors”. He is currently on loan at Birchall’s club Port Vale, stands at six feet five inches, has played for England’s Under-16 and U-17 teams and has a Trinidadian father. 

While Hart understandably did not want to confirm whether he has made any approach to Inniss, he did confirm that discussions with players such as Inniss were done in recent times. 

Throughout the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) in the last few months many teams are making attempts to solicit overseas-based (mainly Europe) talent to strengthen their squads. 

Last December, DIRECTV W Connection played an international friendly versus a European boosted Suriname who has an ambitions vision called “Project Suriname”, in which they are seeking to bring back many Dutch players born to Surinamese parents. Caledonia AIA coach Jamaal Shabazz recently began his third stint as Guyana coach and they attracted players with English Premier League and championship experience in Matthew Briggs and Neil Danns. 

CFU Champions Jamaica alongside Antigua, Grenada and St Kitts/Nevis also have similar plans. 

Hart noted this development certainly means CFU teams boosted by these overseas acquisitions will be no pushovers. Thus the traditional strong CFU/CONCACAF teams will have to maintain their competitive edge, to avoid being eliminated earlier than expected like what happened to Trinidad and Tobago in the 2014 qualifying campaign.