Ashford Jackman looks beyond South Africa.
Until recently, our campaign in this final phase has borne striking resemblance to its immediate predecessor in 2005; the team has performed woefully, and yet TTFF Special Advisor Jack Warner has maintained his bluff that it will go on to qualify. That was until two weeks ago, when Mr. Warner announced that he could no longer bear the financial burden of carrying (my word) the squad on his own, simultaneously cancelling a planned European warm-up tour, even as he switched loyalty to the youth squad preparing for the World Under-20 Finals in Egypt next month. It was surely a frank admission that the senior team’s cause was lost; and it flew in the face of his earlier statements to the contrary.
The two campaigns (2005 and the present) may appear similar; but as I noted last year, there are significant differences. For one, the nucleus of the squad has deteriorated further; if one now accepts my arguments back in 2005 that the key players were an ageing lot, add four years to each of Yorke, Latapy, Andrews, Lawrence, John (Stern) and Ince, and you will understand this writer’s prolonged silence on the current campaign. You will understand why the only surprising result for me this year was the opening draw in San Salvador- a game I felt sure we would win. But then, Brazil sacrificed their title chances in Germany 2006 by favouring Ronaldo in his bid to eclipse Gerd Mueller’s 14-goal record; why not, when two-up away to our weakest opponents, give a ‘bligh’ to Stern John- out of form, lacking in confidence, practically out of contract- and blow the only win we were odds-on to achieve, given the pedigrees of our other North and Central American adversaries in this final phase?
Which raises the other major difference in 2009: the ‘back door’ through we slipped last time around is no longer blocked by plodding Oceania teams like Bahrain. And if the U.S., Costa Rica and Mexico struggle against the South American teams, what chance Trinidad and Tobago?
On the evidence, then, Mr. Warner’s belated assessment of the situation is dead on the money; it is the context in which this about-turn has come, and the action he has initiated (there have been no public contradictions from the esteemed TTFF executive) that troubles me.
The world judges a country’s football by the success, or lack of it, of its teams in international competition. Trinidad and Tobago was the Caribbean’s lone representative at the last World Cup, yet it was beaten in the two most recent Digicel Caribbean Championships, was badly mauled at the 2007 Gold Cup, and failed even to qualify for the latest edition, just recently claimed by Mexico.
There can be no consistency of success in our football until the powers-that-be put a structure in place to facilitate such. The switch of attention from the seniors to the Under-20s appears to be a continuation of the old habit of jumping on the back of whatever is doing well- a reaction policy rather than a strategy. Simply put, the senior Warriors have fallen out of the running in the race for South Africa; jump on the Under-20 bandwagon, whose place in Egypt is already booked. Someone in the TTFF believes that in less than a month, all the weaknesses of the junior squad can be resolved with an injection of money. That would spark a resurgence in T&T’s football. Yeah, right! In the past, I have, among many others, clamoured for a development plan; if the TTFF and its advisors cannot see that far ahead, if they cannot wait so long, then the least they can do is plan the medium term development of a competitive senior national squad.
What would it take to develop a cadre of players and a coaching staff that would hold their own in future Caribbean and Concacaf competitions; one that would give the U.S., Mexico and Costa Rica a run for their money?
Actually, the timing and the resources could hardly be better. For one, the very Under-20s have shown sufficient potential to be groomed as the replacements for our ancient warriors. Such a ploy has worked in the past to create a great team, though many may not have recognised it. Back in the 1980s, Jack Warner himself had convinced the Concacaf to let T&T host a number of youth tournaments. One year after the opening of the West Port of Spain Regional Park (now the Hasely Crawford Stadium), the 1983 Concacaf Under-16 Championship was played in Trinidad and Tobago. Out of that tournament emerged Russel Latapy, Marvin Faustin, Clint Marcelle, Colin Rocke, Todd Willis, Ainsley Weeks, Anthony Clarke and Ross Russell, among others. The following year, hosting the Concacaf Under-19 Championship yielded further gains- Kurt Barrington, Hutson Charles, Leonsen Lewis, Dexter Sandy, Linley Prince and Andrew Ali, to name a few. And in 1986, Latapy and company returned as Under-19s when T&T hosted its third such tournament in four years.
Most of the aforementioned, as we all know, went on to form the great ‘Strike Squad’ that came within one point of going to Italy 1990. For the record, the exceptions included Kerry Jamerson, the Arima Senior Comprehensive defender who was too old for the 1983 squad, and overlooked in ’84. Kerry was nonetheless part of an explosion of talent prompted by the excitement and interest generated by these tournaments, and he was later converted by ‘Gally’ Cummings into a very reliable defensive midfielder. Ditto Dwight Yorke, considered too young for both the ’83 and ’86 teams, as well as Philbert Jones and Dexter Skeene- two untried young men who made the leap straight into the senior ranks.
When the Cummings/Neville Chance partnership took over the senior squad in 1987, the young standouts were combined with the incumbents who were performing and in their prime. These included Clayton Morris, Earl Carter, Michael Maurice, Dexter Francis (converted from left to centre-back), Brian Williams, Kelvin Jones, Maurice Alibey and Richard Chinapoo. In two years, this squad had the football world watching and wagering as to whether a combination of part-timers- soldiers, policemen and tradesmen, could beat a world superpower to the last berth in Italia ’90. There was no godfather on the FIFA executive, no third place qualification, let alone a fourth-place escape hatch. Above all, there was no foreign coach picked up at the eleventh hour.
Significantly, in the present scenario, most of the players who warrant retention, based on age and performance, are either home-based or just starting out with foreign teams. They include goalkeepers Cleon John and Marvin Phillip, and defenders Osei Telesford, Radanfah Abu Bakr and Makan Hislop. The most populous group is the midfielders- including Carlos Edwards, Densil Theobald, Keon Daniel, Kevon Neaves, Julius James, Khaleem Hyland and Hayden Tinto; and among the forwards, Cornel Glen, Kerry Baptiste and Kenwyne Jones.
From the Under-20s, there is goalie Glenroy Samuel; defenders abound in the likes of Sheldon Bateau, Ronald Primus and Uriah Bentick; Leston Paul stands out among the midfielders and forwards Jamal Gay, Shahdon Winchester, Trent Lougheed and Daniel Joseph are showing their worth. Additionally, there are several young and untried players in the TT Pro League who merit inclusion- such as Devon Jamerson, Lester Peltier, Elton John and Micah Lewis.
Finally, all support should be given to Russell Latapy as head coach, not on a trial basis, as he finds himself at present. Though the current squad continues its losing streak in qualifying, ‘Latas’ has already shown, starting at the deep end, that he has the vision and the ideas to mould such a collection of talent into a cohesive and productive force in the Concacaf. His selection of Abu Bakr and Tinto, and their performances under pressure and without previous exposure at the highest level, suggest that the little man could be one of those rare individuals who do as well at coaching as they have in their playing days. There have been suggestions already that he should be given the sack; that playing ‘a good brand’ means nothing if the team continues to lose. My take is that you cannot deposit Lewis Hamilton into a Nissan Sunny and expect a Formula One performance; neither can you expect to hand over a beaten bunch of ageing heroes to a new manager and expect a dramatic turnaround in the space of a couple of weeks.
Latapy has shown that he is willing to look beyond the muscle-bound, one-paced prima donnas who believe that having a professional contract in some lower English division club certifies them above the capabilities of the local talent. Under him, the Soca Warriors have begun to play in attack with purpose and sting, as did national teams of the pre-foreign based era. But that topic merits a separate examination. As for the results, for me, Latapy has lost two of two mainly because the team’s defence is too slow, and quickly spent- and that includes his central midfielder, long time partner and team leader, Dwight Yorke. It was last year when I warned of the dearth of young and promising defenders in T&T, pointing out that most of the Pro League’s leading performers were imported from our Caricom neighbours. As I predicted then, Abu Bakr has been drafted in, but belatedly, as neither Francisco Maturana nor his advisors had the vision. Defence will continue to be T&T’s Achilles heel in the foreseeable future, and the answers must come, in the main, from the Under-20s.
It is too late to iron out their problems on the eve of the FIFA Youth Championship, too late to rescue a South Africa campaign that was doomed from the outset, due to a dismal lack of planning. But the time is right to begin preparation for 2014, using the Caribbean and Concacaf championships as the training grounds for the greater objective.