Following up on the shameful display in Nashville, TN last month, the U- 17 Soca Warriors demonstrated an equally disastrous display in the recently concluded CONCACAF tournament: 13 goals against, 0 goals scored. Now we are left to wander what the future of our soccer really is. And don't forget that our last U-17 team though they qualified for the World Cup did not measure up to the opposition (based on the results of our games). We heard lots of comments by the coaching staff indicating that the team was ready, that they had a wonderful buildup in South America, that they would be competitive. I am left with a lot of questions:
1. Who did we really play against in the buildup?
2. Were those games really helpful in our preparation?
3. Was the coaching staff really up to the task of preparing a team to play against world class players?
4. Do we have developmental systems that really produce good players or were the Kenwyne Jones, Dwight Yorke, Stern John, Russel Latapy and other foreign players successful in spite of, and not a result of our developmental system?
5. Are these performances an indication that our soccer present and future is in jeopardy?
6. Is the U-20 success an aberration or is that representative of the reality of Trinidad and Tobago soccer? 7. Does the TTFF and Jack Warner really care how fans feel about these series of embarrassing displays?
Although we have often discussed some of these issues on this forum, it is probably worthy of a more focused discussion.