Sidebar

28
Thu, Mar

Typography
Forward Nigel Pierre may not be able to play in Trinidad and Tobago’s closing Digicel Caribbean Cup clash with hosts Barbados on Thursday after being advised by a local eye specialist to rest.


Pierre was forced to miss Tuesday’s match after suffering  from extreme swelling of the right eye following a blow from a Jamaican player in Sunday’s encounter Pierre spent all of Monday resting and after being checked by Trinidadian Barbados-based Doctor Mario John, went for X-rays which showed no fractures. But a visit to the specialist on Tuesday showed that there was inflammation on the infected area and any further contact could worsen his state.

With defender Marlon Rojas already ruled out with a hamstring injury, Tobago United defender Dwayne Jack has been called up to join the team in Barbados and will arrive on Wednesday. Jack has been in training with the squad for the past few weeks.

Head coach Bertille St Clair is likely to have a friendly played ahead of the Guatemala World Cup qualifier next month and is hoping to have a fully fit squad by then.

As the “Warriors” prepared for Tuesday’s match for Cuba, St Clair didn’t waste time in telling the players that they had no choice but to buck up.

“We have spent long hours trying to work on the areas which has been disappointing in our performance and yet one day we seem to be up and then next day we can’t keep it at that level. It’s a concern but as a team, everyone must hold their responsibility and be able to account for what occurs on the pitch,” St Clair told TTFF Media.

“We went into the game against Jamaica on the back of a promising performance against the States and while we were missing a few guys, one would have hoped to see us keep our game up, but we came up against Jamaica and we fell back again. They are by no means a better team than us but it seemed that they had a point to prove and they wanted to do that more than us so it showed in the end result. But that is something we must get away from because on the road to Germany, the battle has no favourites and you must make things go in your favour. It’s all about who can endure it the most on the road to the World Cup and I am still certain that we can do this but we must pick our ourselves up from here and stay there when we attain a level that is sufficient,” he added.

Caribbean Football Union President Jack Warner, also President of CONCACAF was accompanied by CONCACAF General Secretary Chuck Blazer at the CFU Congress on the weekend and with the aid of recently appointed General Secretary Kerri Ann Alleyne, oversaw a successful meeting.

Warner didn’t come down on the “Warriors” for their first match falter but took time to commend the Cuban side for their show of determination in their 3-0 win over Barbados after arriving for the game at midday on the day of kickoff.

“I must laud Cuba for their discipline and commitment to the sport. After a most difficult week based on the vagaries of BWIA travel, they arrived in Barbados at 12:25pm and took the field at 8:00pm without a complaint of any kind or a request for any favours. Any other team in the Caribbean would have complained bitterly from the airport and would have begun making excuses of all kinds for any inadequacies by the team on the field of play. But what Cuba did in the first game is now history and this is the mettle of which champions are made,” Warner said.

T&T start team for Cuba game :Duarance Williams, Anton Pierre, Keyeno Thomas, Derek King, Lyndon Andrews, Leslie Fitzpatrick, David Nakhid, Jose Seabra,  Densil Theobald, Cornell Glen, Scott Sealy