Wonderful welcome for Soca Warriors.
By: Shaun Fuentes.[/size]
Simply Fantastic!Those two words summed up what Trinidad and Tobago’s Soca Warriors experienced during its welcome day in Germany and more particular Rotenburg as they arrived from Prague to officially begin their 2006 World Cup campaign.
The day started off with security officials going through every room at the Landhaus Wachtelhof Hotel in Rotenburg with dogs sniffing to ensure that all was safe for the check in of Dwight Yorke and his teammates and it ended with a rousing performance from T&T songster Chris Garcia of his football hit “Deutchland” which had just under 3,000 fans dominated by Germans waving both T&T and German flags and singing along as the members of the T&T team stood onstage at the Rotenburg City Square. That event was part sponsored by Angostura and there were also a few “Trinis” spotted in the crowd.
In between that, head coach Leo Beenhakker made sure to put his players through their places for a one-hour session at the training pitch located a few minutes ride from the team base hotel.
The first day in Deutchland was undoubtedly beyond anything ever experienced by a T&T athlete or team in a foreign country as the red carpet was rolled out for the team to make its way of the Lufthansa flight which arrived in Bremen from Frankfurt shortly around 10 am (4am TT time). Little kids dressed in white and with miniature T&T flags lined the carpet as the players and staff members made their way onto the official team bus which carried the slogan – Here come the Soca Warriors – the fighting spirit of the Caribbean. Even at the stop off for the connecting flight in Frankfurt, the team was privately escorted to the security check point away from all other regular travelers.
On the 30-minute bus drive from Bremen, the Mayor of Rotenburg Detlef Eichinger accompanied the team but as the bus made its way into actual Rotenburg, out of nowhere were scenes of fans, both young and old waving T&T flags, punching the air and blowing kisses. And on every other building the T&T flag was hanging prompting team member on board the bus to excitedly say “But they even have more flags up here than we have at home.”
Massive welcome and top up security.The arrival appeared planned as the two escort police vehicles stopped about 400 metres away from the hotel and the contingent had to walk the remaining distance to the sounds of steel drums from a German band with hundreds of curious onlookers, none without flags, applauding and trying to get a touch of the “Soca Warriors”.
Beenhakker would have been had their experience of a World Cup with the Dutch national team but he surely would not have gone through the kind of overwhelming welcome given to Yorke’s team here.
Mayor Eichinger also hosted the team for a short time at the City hall where the members were requested to sign the City’s golden book and received gifts of ancient weapons used in war such as spears and arrows.
At the same time, there will be no worries over security as any T&T contingent leaving the hotel will have police escort. At Sunday’s training session there were no less than 12 security officers and seven police officers and for sessions open to the public there will be some 30 security officers at the training pitch. At the hotel at all times will be ten security officers along with FIFA security officer Gunther Grath and ex-brigadier John Sandy.
The security escorts had to do their bit to hold off some rushing fans who were anxious to get hold of some of the players, in particular Chris Birchall who was chased by adoring fans. It was all in good light as the officers too had to laugh as they got the fans out the way. “ Now I don’t know what they would do if David Beckham was here,” Birchall joked.
Yorke: Nothing can compare to this.Yorke could not hold back the emotion of what he said is part fruit for the country for its World Cup qualification. “Of course it’s overwhelming for all of us. They came out in their numbers. The city certainly feels like a West Indian party because of the number of flags and soca music and steel drums and everything that you can think of that we have back home. These people have really gone out of their way,” Yorke told TTFF Media.
It was a definite boost in light of three successive defeats.“It’s a pretty upbeat situation that we are in. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves because the fact is that we played against the world number two team and they taught us a lesson on the first half. Once we got used to it, we were three goals down but you have to give credit to the guys for the second half performance. The good thing is that we learn from these kind of games.
“The country obviously will benefit a lot from it and the amount of publicity that is surrounding the team and the players is amazing. Of course it’s an experience that we all have never been in before and we are here to experience something historical. Hopefully may that continue for the years ahead. This is a special moment for us and I think we all should just sit back and enjoy it but obviously don’t get caught up in it too much but try and see what we can achieve here as a team as well,” Yorke ended after finishing dinner with his teammates at the luxurious Landhaus hotel.
Full house to see Warriors.The team will have one session on Monday morning and then FIFA officials will visit the hotel to handle the official team accreditation for the World Cup. Then in the evening period. Beenhakker and his players will travel to Hamburg to face German Third Division side FC St Pauli in a specially arranged training match done by team sponsors eBay. The game has attractive massive interest and was planned in aim of boosting the team’s profile here for the World Cup. It has been evident during the previous camps, particularly in Austria and Prague and now in Rotenburg that T&T has won many new friends and they will play to a live viewing audience of an estimated 10 million German fans as the game will be aired by one of the country’s biggest network ZDF. Tickets for the game have also been sold out with eBay officials confirming a turnout of close to 20,000 fans.
* - See Photos of the team arrival,
click here.
News from the 04th of June 2006.Strong Czechs get final win over T&T.
By: Shaun Fuentes.A strong Czech Republic team got the better Trinidad & Tobago in their final warm-up match before the World Cup finals. Two goals from Jan Koller and a Pavel Nedved strike eased the Czechs to a 3-0 victory at the Toyota Arena on Saturday evening.
T&T head coach Leo Beenhakker fielded what appeared to be his starting team for the World Cup while Czech coach Karel Bruckner wanted to field his ideal starting 11 for this game, but injuries to Tomas Galasek and Tomas Rosicky forced a reshuffle.
Imposing striker Koller had the first chance in the second minute when he lobbed Kelvin Jack and the ball looked to be on its way into the net before Marvin Andrews cleared off the line.
But neither Andrews nor Jack could do anything four minutes later when Koller made amends for that miss to open the scoring.
Karel Poborsky began the attack with a run into the area from the left, he tried to pass to Nedved, but the ball hit a defender and rebounded to Poborsky, who sent in a precise cross which Koller powered in with a diving header.
The next chance fell to Coventry striker Stern John, who weaved his way through the Czech defence but saw his effort go straight to goalie Petr Cech.
And the visitors were made to pay for spurning that chance in the 22nd minute as Koller turned provider with a pass to Nedved which the skipper finished with a precision shot inside the post.
Trinidad keeper Jack kept the scoreline respectable with two good saves to deny Poborsky and Milan Baros but could do nothing about Koller's second and the Czech Republic's third five minutes from half-time.
With a beautiful, sweeping counter-attack, Nedved sent a through pass to Poborsky, who touched it on to Koller and the Borussia Dortmund striker directed the ball to the net.
There was no respite for the visiting Caribbean side in the second half as wave after wave of Czech attacks came at them and they were lucky to keep the score at 3-0. Their own best effort fell to substitute striker Densill Theobald, who hit a decent shot just over the crossbar.
Bruckner made three changes an hour into the match, and the new line-up took some time to gel, with several passes going astray. But the Czechs still had the game under control, and after Andrews almost netted an own goal when he diverted Nedved's cross over the bar, sub Vratislav Lokvenc went close with a header from a corner.
Line-Ups:Czech Republic:Petr Cech, Zdenek Grygera, David Rozehnal, Tomas Ujfalusi, Marek Jankulovski (Pavel Mares, 79), Karel Poborsky (Jiri Stajner, 61), Jan Polak (Marek Heinz, 61), Jaroslav Plasil, Pavel Nedved (Martin Jiranek, 82), Milan Baros (Libor Sionko, 46), Jan Koller (Vratislav Lokvenc, 61).
Trinidad & Tobago:Kelvin Jack, Avery John (Atiba Charles, 46), Marvin Andrews, Dennis Lawrence, Chris Birchall (Aurtis Whitley, 46), Cyd Gray, Carlos Edwards (Kenwyne Jones, 69), Collin Samuel, Stern John, Densill Theobald (Anthony Wolfe, 77), Dwight Yorke (capt).
Soca Warriors heads up for official Germany arrival.
By: Shaun Fuentes.Trinidad and Tobago’s Soca Warriors will keep their heads up and enter Germany with pride and big ambitions a day after its 3-0 defeat to Czech Republic.
This was the message coming from captain Dwight Yorke after his team conceded three first half goals at the Toyota Arena in their final warm up international before its opening 2006 World Cup fixture against Sweden.
The “Soca Warriors” will depart Prague early Sunday morning and will fly through Frankfurt on the way to making an official arrival as a World Cup team in Bremen at around 10am (4am TT time). The team will then journey by luxury bus and escorted by Rotenburg Mayor Detlef Eichinger for about 40 minutes to Rotenburg. Mayor Detlef Eichinger for about 40 minutes to Rotenburg.
A massive welcome is expected for the team in Rotenburg which will check in at the Landhaus Wachtelhof hotel around 11:30 am.
With Rotenburg virtually transferred to a “Little T&T”, the Mayor will then host an official welcome reception later in the evening at around 6:30pm (12:30 pm) at the City Square.
Looking back at what was a third consecutive defeat for his team, Yorke said it was only obvious to be disappointed but once again he felt the team had no cause for major alarms.
“Obviously it was a disappointing result for us but this is not going to take away too much from us because we have three bigger matches to play in Germany and we will go there tomorrow with all the ambition,” Yorke told TTFF Media shortly after the match in Prague.
“We are still optimistic but we know it’s going to be extremely hard and we know it was always going to be extremely hard. We are not taking that for granted. The one good thing about this result is that it does not count and next Saturday is when it really starts and that’s when it matters.”
When asked whether he felt this was a worthwhile encounter a week before his team faces Sweden, Yorke replied: “I think that is right. The manager said he was the one that prepared the games and this is one he wanted us to have. This is exactly it and one thing we can take from this is that first half we were taught a footballing lesson.”
And should the “Soca Warriors” feel as though England and Sweden might as well start counting their goals:
“I don’t think so. If we think for a moment that England and Sweden are going to beat us 5-0 then we might as well not turn up. What we have to ensure is when we go to play in June 10th, 15th and 20th is that we can give a good account of ourselves,” Yorke added.
In spite of the loss, Beenhakker was not disturbed.
“I was very happy with the game and I will explain why. My players are not used to this way of football, this way in Europe. It’s much more faster and physical. So it was my choice to have very tough games for them versus Slovenia and Czech - one of the best teams in the world actually. So we knew it would be very difficult but I prefer to have the problems on now and at least they have the experience as to what they can expect in the World Cup and I prefer they are surprised now instead of next week after the Sweden match,” he said.
As to how he assessed the match, Beenhakker added “In football it’s all about mistakes and a good team make probably two mistakes in 90 minutes and a weaker team make probably about 25 mistakes. Simply look for the goals, they score it and we prepared the goals. First goal was a free kick for us, ball left to right in our own half and we lost the ball, Second goal, lesson number one never as a defender never make short passing in the middle, we did it and 2-0. Lesson number two, as a defender never let a guy escape you in the back.
“The problem is not how good the opponent is. The problem is how good we are and how many mistakes we make and that is the big battle with this team. The question is whether we are good enough to go with the opponents on this level and I can assure you we have learnt enough. Whether it’s good enough well we will find out.”
He doesn’t think today’s scoreline should mean that T&T should forget all about causing an upset or two at the Finals.
“We always have a chance. You never know who to put your money on. Football always has surprises and that’s the beautiful thing about it.
And finally, when asked whether he heard about the England 6-0 win over Jamaica, Beenhakker added: “Oh! But come on. This is Jamaica we are talking about against England. England are preparing for the big stage and that result is not in any relation to us and how we will prepare for our matches and how we will play in the World Cup.”
Following the 3-0 loss, there were no major injury worry with midfielder Densill Theobald nursing a knock to the ankle but he will be able to train as early as next week while Cyd Gray suffered slight damage to a finger tissue.
News from the 03rd of June 2006.Soca Warriors & Czechs square off in final dress rehearsal.
By: Shaun Fuentes.[/size]
Scottish-based striker Collin Samuel is likely to get his first start of the build up tour towards the 2006 World Cup when Trinidad and Tobago clashes with Czech Republic in what will be the final warm up match for both countries at the Toyota Arena in Prague from 5:30pm (11:30am TT time) on Saturday.
T&T head coach Leo Beenhakker is back to having a full compliment of players to select from and Glasgow Rangers defender Marvin Andrews is also likely to be in the line up as the “Soca Warriors” go into what is expected to be their toughest assignment thus far but one which will they will be seeking a result that could bolster their morale going into the June 10 opener against Sweden in Dortmund.
The team arrived at the Renaissance Hotel in Prague in mid afternoon on Friday following an early wake up call and travel schedule out of Bad Radkersburg. They flew through Munich and arrived in Prague to a group of supporters who were playing a European-version of the ever popular “Ole, ole ole” tune over a boom box.
There was little time to rest as Beenhakker set off to the match venue with skipper Dwight York and his teammates for a training session in favourable cool conditions which was opened to the media and followed one involving the host team which is ranked number two in the world by FIFA and boast of several seasoned European-based stars such as Juventus midfielder Pavel Nedved and Aston Villa striker Milan Baros. The Czechs are coming off 2-0 and 1-0 wins over Saudi Arabia and Costa Rica respectively late last month.
With already two defeats on their backs, T&T will want nothing better than to secure a decent result against the Czechs who are one of the outside favourites to win the Cup.
“What I want from this game is that we are still a little bit better than yesterday because that’s what it’s all about in preparation,” Beenhakker told TTFF Media after Friday’s session.
“You always want to win. We played well against Wales but we gave away two sloppy goals. We were surprised in the beginning versus Slovenia but you have to realize that we have had a very tough preparation. But we played a good first half and it wasn’t that bad. Of course yes a victory or a clean sheet will be good. You want to win but the most important thing is that I see some progression in relation to the last match versus Slovenia,” Beenhakker added in relation to his hopes for Saturday’s encounter which is the first ever meeting between the two teams.
With the Czechs ranked so highly and boasting of such high profile players, the Dutchman didn’t hold back from being a bit realistic but why be afraid of it he said.
“You also have to realize too that Czech Republic may be a little too big for us. They are ranked number two in the world and they have great players but that’s why I planned this match, I want to know where I am and I want to show (them) what actual tough football is and what they can look forward to versus Sweden and England,” he added.
When asked by a couple Swedish reporters after the session whether he was anywhere close to deciding his final starting team for the opening match, Beenhakker did hint in the positive.
“Yea ! I am close to it. I know at least in relation with what we can expect from Sweden. Like the other coaches are doing, we saw the matches and yes I know more or else what I want. We also did (play) Slovenia a little bit in relation to Sweden. I don’t have so much choices of course but like I said the only thing we can do is prepare in the perfect way and then go for it.”
And what at this stage would be his ambitions for T&T’s showing at the World Cup?
“It’s double when I have to be realistic and then the other side you always have this ambition to do better and be better and to surprise and to win. I think we still can surprise one of the three and hopefully it won’t be in the third match but one of the first or second. That’s my big dream,” he emphasized.
Luton Town midfielder Carlos Edwards also felt that a good effort was in store.
“It will be a tough game but one to test the character of the players to see what we are really made of. We are going to be playing the number two team in the world and they are not there by luck. They are a quality team. It will be a good game for us as well seeing that it is the last one and I hope that we learn from our mistakes from the last two games. We already know what we are capable of but once we can get it together and a draw or even a win will be the perfect boost,” Edwards told TTFF Media.
A crowd of just over 10,000 is expected at the 22,000- seater venue which is the home base for Sparta Prague FC. T&T team liaison officer for this outing, Tomas Trucha said the estimated crowd would be a decent number considering that general elections in the country is taking place over Friday and Saturday.
“We expect that the stadium will still have a good crowd because it is the final match before the team goes off and it’s the same for Trinidad (and Tobago). Prague has a population of 1.5 million and the country is about 10 million so it’s like welcoming your team to little Trinidad and we are very happy to host the team for such a match,” said Trucha who is a trainer with Czech club FK Jablonec 97.
The T&T team will run out in red shirt and black pants for Saturday’s friendly. It was also confirmed of late that the “Soca Warriors” will face Sweden in red shirt and black pants, then they will do battle with England in red shirts and red pants and close off their Group B campaign against Paraguay in an all white strip.
* Photos of the team arrival and training in Prague,
click here.
News from the 02nd of June 2006.Soca Warriors off to Prague for final warm up.
By: Shaun Fuentes.[/size]
Some 10,000 tickets have already been sold for this country’s final warm up international before the World Cup on Saturday against the Czech Republic at the Toyota Arena in Prague from 5:30 pm (11:30am TT time).
According to information from the Czech Football headquarters, the match is already a much anticipated one as fans from the hosts will be turning up to see the FIFA ranked number two team for a final send off before the 2006 World Cup kicks off.
And their head coach Karel Bruckner has a full compliment of players with Juventus midfielder Pavel Nedved spearheading the team’s attack.
Aston Villa forward Milan Baros, Borussia Dortmund’s Jan Koller, Arsenal midfielder Tomáš Rosický and AC Milan defender Marek Jankulovski. T&T defender Marvin Andrews will also be up against Glasgow Rangers teammate Libor Sionko.
Arguably, this is expected to be T&T’s toughest of all the warm ups played so far and while it may be expected that neither team will go all out so close to start of the finals, Beenhakker is still anticipating a keen contest.
“This is what we are expecting and we need these type of matches. We have no complaints about it,“ he told TTFF Media.
T&T skipper Dwight Yorke felt similarly, and as the pressure starts to intensify ahead of the June 10 kick off versus Sweden, the Sydney FC player is certain his teammates will be ready for the battle.
“This is what the experience of myself and Shaka and Russell and all of these guys who have been there can bring to the team and rally the troops. We have got a very experienced manager this is a testing time for all of us. You see a different formation everytime the manager puts out the team and you just got to believe in what he’s trying to accomplish,“ Yorke said.
“The Czech team we know is a highly ranked one and they will pose a very strong test to us but we not going to back down because this is all part of the process in getting ready for the big games that really matter.
And what about his change of role to a more defensive position in the 3-1 loss to Slovenia, Yorke explained that it was a try out for the sake of trying to get the right approach.
“I enjoyed it. It’s a great opportunity for me and the manager has a lot of belief in me. That’s a challenge as a player and I am very excited about it,“ he added.
Coventry City striker Stern John confessed that he should have at least made better use of one of the chances that came his way on Wednesday. But his insticts for goals will be well timed, he added.
“I’m disappointed because I don’t like to lose and even though the game started a bit tricky for us, I thought we settled and we had the game to take in our favour. Maybe we didn’t expect the type of physical play from them but we dealt well with it. But then I had a couple decent chances which didn’t go my way. I’m not worried though because the sharpness will come and I prefer give them away now than later on. It would be worrying if the chances weren’t coming and so far some half chances presenting themselves and it’s down to myself and the other finishers to put them away because especially in the World Cup these may not come up that often, “John added to TTFF Media.
Meantime, Southampton striker Kenwyne Jones was involved once again in training in the final session on Thursday at the Thermen Arena in Bad Radkersburg and so too was Andrews who will now be an added option for selection on Saturday. Midfielder Silvio Spann will leave his teammates out of Graz on Friday and head to London where he is scheduled to undergo further recovery treatment. Plans have been made though for him to make the trip to Germany to witness T&T’s Group B matches.
The rest of the team will arrive in Prague by midday on Friday and will train once in the evening at the match venue. There will be a 15-minute window at the start of the session for the media and then a mix zone for interviews following the session.
Czech Squad.[/b]
Goalkeepers -Jaromír Blažek (AC Sparta Praha), Petr Cech (Chelsea FC), Antonín Kinský (FC Saturn Ramenskoje).
Defenders -Zdenìk Grygera (FC Ajax Amsterdam), Marek Jankulovski (AC Milán), Martin Jiránek (Spartak Moskva), Radoslav Kováè (Spartak Moskva), Pavel Mareš (FC Zenit Petrohrad, David Rozehnal (Paris Saint-Germain FC), Tomáš Ujfaluši (ACF Fiorentina).
Midfielders –Tomáš Galásek (FC Norimberk), David Jarolím (Hambuger SV), Pavel Nedvìd (Juventus FC), Jaroslav Plašil (AS Monako), Karel Poborský (SK Dynamo È. Budìjovice), Jan Polák (FC Norimberk), Tomáš Rosický (Arsenal FC), Libor Sionko (Glasgow Rangers FC).
Forwards -Milan Baros (Aston Villa FC), Marek Heinz (Galatasaray SK ), Jan Kolle (BV Borussia Dortmund), Vratislav Lokvenc (Red Bull Salzburg), Jiøí Štajner (Hannover 96).
