Jabloteh withdraw players from El Salvador friendly.
By: Lasana Liburd (Express).
Trinidad and Tobago national team head coach Francisco Maturana might be forced to summon replacements for his present squad after CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh announced the withdrawal of their players for the March 19 international friendly against El Salvador.
The scheduled fixture, which will be played in Trinidad, falls outside of the FIFA international calendar and, as such, clubs are not obliged to release players for the outing.
Jabloteh leave for Scotland on March 13 for a two-week tour, which is part of their new three-year deal with Scotland Premier League (SPL) giants, Celtic.
The 2007 T&T Pro League champions, according to coach Terry Fenwick, have no intention of leaving their best players behind.
They are likely to play three or four matches in Scotland, including exhibition games against Celtic and Division One outfit, Dundee, who once employed former Jabloteh players Kelvin Jack and Brent Sancho.
"This is a big part of our partnership with Celtic," Fenwick told the Express. "We are meeting with Lawrence Duprey-associated companies in Scotland and it is quite a big thing for our sponsors.
"We are trying to give (the national team) as much as support as we can (but) without impacting too much on our programme."
Fenwick cannot stand in the way of his players returning to represent their country in the March 26 fixture against Caribbean rivals, Jamaica, but there was a caveat.
"We will expect the T&TFF to pay (the players' airfare) for them to come back and represent their country," said Fenwick.
Jabloteh's relationship with the T&TFF has been strained for the past 15 months and the local administration refused to pen a recommendation letter for starlet Lester Peltier last August in support of his work permit appeal to join England Premiership team, Portsmouth.
However, the San Juan club insisted they were the aggrieved party in the clash of training schedules and maintained they are willing to support the "Soca Warriors" in an atmosphere of mutual respect.
Maturana might lament the absence of six players from his initial shortlist, including promising 18-year-old central midfielder Khaleem Hyland and skilful winger Jason Marcano, but previous national teams have made do without representation from various clubs in the past due to scheduling conflicts.
Present Warriors manager David Muhammad sounded a more conciliatory note than his predecessor and even praised Jabloteh's professionalism.
"The cooperation from Jabloteh has been fantastic," said Muhammad. "I have been speaking with Terry (Fenwick) everyday and things have gone very smoothly. At the very beginning, there were a couple miscommunications, but everything is up and running now."
Muhammad said there were no absentee problems with Jabloteh players from the recent training camp, which ends today at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva.
Maturana was not so lucky with his other recruits, though.
Injuries to the Joe Public trio of Seon Power, Gary Glasgow and Keyeno Thomas kept them out of the training squad, while schoolboys Leston Paul, Jamaal Gay and Akeem Adams juggled national senior and youth team commitments with academic responsibilities.
Peltier, Hyland and Vibe CT 105 W Connection full back Kern Cupid missed out through overseas trials, while Tobago-based Under-17 World Cup player Daniel Cyrus was another absentee.
The Colombian coach will finalise his squad to face El Salvador before March 13 when the Warriors regroup for their final preparation. The likes of Hyland, Ataullah Guerra and Marvin Oliver might be on a plane for Glasgow on other business, though.