Trinidad and Tobago’s senior footballers had their second session with a full strength team behind closed doors at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
Head coach Leo Beenhakker worked his players under the blazing sun in the morning and then requested all gates locked for the second one which commenced at 5:30pm. The only missing players were Dennis Lawrence and Jason Scotland who were due in on Wednesday.
Beenhakker with his two assistants Theo de Jong and Wim Rhisbergen put the players through their paces with some more intensity after the likes of Russell Latapy, Stern John, Chris Birchall, Ian Cox, Shaka Hislop, Kelvin Jack, Carlos Edwards, Dwight Yorke, Marvin Andrews and Brent Sancho all went through a light exercise session on Tuesday night following the journey from London. Also present was David Nakhid who made the trip back and Beenhakker took the opportunity to use him as an assistant.
The other members of the squad such as Avery John, Scott Sealy, Atiba Charles, Aurtis Whitley, Glenton Wolfe, Anton Pierre, Cyd Gray Densill Theobald and Silvio Spann all went through a full session on Tuesday evening as well as with the rest of the arriving pros on the Wednesday.
The Guatemalans meantime come in on Thursday and will be based at the Kapok Hotel. A host of Guatemalan media representatives, some 60 journalists, including some from six radio stations, arrived in the country on Wednesday afternoon to follow their team on Saturday.
The double session on the Wednesday Independence Holiday was well worth it according to some of the players, particularly the other midfielders in the team who have admitted that they expect to pick up a thing or two from Latapy’s presence, aside from the other values he is expected to bring to the “Warriors” outfit on the pitch.
“I think from what I heard from the rest of the guys, they all think that Russell could bring something to the team even though we know how much the rest of us have to do to ensure that we get some success. And you could see it out there today with him. He still has it in him and me particularly as a younger player on the team, I’m pretty sure I can pick up some pointers from him, Birchall told TTFF Media. “He’s already been telling me how to get better on a few things and to have someone like that playing with you could only be a positive thing for us,” added the Port Vale youngster.
Caledonia AIA Fire midfielder Densill Theobald recalls how much he relished looking at Latapy on video prior to his return.
“And now to see that he (Latapy) is here with us is like a really good thing. The sessions have been full stretched so far and I think everyone understands what we need to do to get the results. We have to remember it’s still a team of us trying to get it right,” Theobald said.
Kansas City Wizards striker Scott Sealy was also anticipating the remainder of the build up leading up the Guatemala match and the one away to Costa Rica on September 7 which assistant manager George Joseph has already gone off to San Jose to ensure arrangements are in place for the team’s arrival on Monday.
“I think it’s there for you to see that all the guys are worked up for this match. We know how important it is to get a win and Russell in particular knows it’s down to us in this match. This sort of vibe is present throughout the squad and it’s just a matter of us taking it on to the pitch,” said Sealy.