Topics

1

Football / Initiative In The Area of Player Development In The U.S.

« on: February 25, 2013, 12:42:53 PM »

Question for Tiny Tim AndSon Cornmeal, TTFF President and so called Technical Director. Another USSF, in conjunction with MLS and the FFF, initiative in the area of player development. How is your player development program going? On second thought...how is yor money development program going?

Meanwhile........

MLS announces partnership with French Football Federation
FEBRUARY 25, 2013
MLSsoccer.com

Major League Soccer and the French Football Federation (FFF) have announced a partnership aimed at providing MLS academy coaches with world class training through a 16-month development course and earning their Elite Formation Coaching License.

The FFF will host the MLS delegation at its Clairefontaine national training facility and guide the youth directors through the same program as the one it provides its domestic coaches; however, the EFCL program will include customized features developed by MLS, the United States Soccer Federation and the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA).

"We are incredibly excited about this new partnership with the French Football Federation,” said MLS executive vice president of player relations & competition Todd Durbin in a statement. "As part of our vision to be among the top leagues in the world by 2022, we are committed to becoming leaders in the area of player development. This initiative will provide an important learning opportunity for MLS youth academies."

READ: MLS Commissioner Don Garber to go Digital with "March to Soccer" address on YouTube, Weds., 6 pm ET

The course will feature eight weeks of coursework, a two-week immersion at the academy of a number of major European teams, including Real Madrid, Athletic Bilbao and Paris Saint-German and an eventual integration into the MLS academy system.

“Through our partnership with MLS, The French Football Federation is proud and excited to be engaged in such a marvelous project,” said FFF technical director François Blaquart in a statement. "The expectations of MLS are very high and the FFF technical department is greatly honored to be selected in this area. Our commitment with MLS will be the foundation for concrete and great development between US and French football, as it mirrors the long term friendship between France and the United States."

Each MLS club, along with US Soccer and MLS, nominated one coach from their academy to participate in the program, which will be spread out over eight sessions between February 2013 and May 2014, culminating with the integration of the program into MLS academies starting in July 2014.

I am curious to know the answer to my question.

2

Football / Making Their Point

« on: December 30, 2011, 12:22:14 AM »

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Phillip__Thompson_launch_protest-136413813.html

These are two men who are speaking out against what they believe to be a ring of corruption involving the ministry of sport and Mr. Roberts and certain individuals. Wrong or right they are not afraid of any backlash. They have appealed to the Integrity Commission, The Transparency Institute, and the Opposition Leader to investigate their complaint.

2259 of you looked at the petition started by Tallman, requesting the immediate resignation of the executive committee of the TTFF, an organization you have been complaining about for years, yet when it came time to make your point, only 425 of us signed it, the rest of you bitches flip flopped.

2% vs 1834%.

That right there sums up why people like Panday, Manning, Warner, Camps, Watson, Roberts, the entire TTFF, and the idiotic bandits in TnT, feel the need to be repeat offenders. They know most of you will just run your f$&king mouth but when the time comes to actually put your asses on the line like the 2% mentioned above, it's not going to happen. My only crime is that I am foreign based. You clowns should be in a side show. That is a shame.


MAKING THEIR POINT: Former Trinidad and Tobago Boxing Board of Control (TTBBC) member Ricardo Phillip, right, and promoter Tansley Thompson protest outside the Ministry of Sport on Abercromby Street, Port of Spain yesterday.—Photo: Stephen Doobay

3

Football / Blue Steele Cold Silver Hot Lead

« on: December 26, 2011, 11:20:46 PM »

We thought it would draw you here on the eve of the new year.

We apologize if It's not what you were thinking.

Sometimes we wonder if you realize that without you we would be nothing. Our hearts and souls would be empty without you. The devil seems to think that you are void of formulating mathematical concepts and incapable of stringing together kindergarten like creativity but we know that you are capable of surfing deeper than the oceans of the crayons,  you are that deep. We thank you for being there. Late at night when we were bored you gave us something to shoot at. Thank you for putting up with us. Somebody loves you. We will see you in the new year.
 
We just want to wish everyone and their family a merry christmas and a bright and prosperous new year.

Love you all.
Merry Christmas
Happy New Year.

4

Cricket Anyone / US$500,000 in the bag for T&T cricketers

« on: October 20, 2009, 04:33:39 PM »

Tuesday October 20th, 2009
IPL Champions League
US$500,000 in the bag for T&T cricketers
Naz Yacoob
Published: 20 Oct 2009
 
T&T national cricketers, now enjoying a successful run in the IPL T20 Club Champions tournament in India, have been guaranteed US$500,000 by the organisers for reaching the semi-final stages of the competition. Teenager Adrian Barath cracked a marvellous half-century on debut as sensational T&T thumped the Eagles by 24 runs on Sunday and stormed into the Champions League Twenty20 semis as the top League A team. The local team, led by captain Daren Ganga have played unbeaten in the tournament, winning all four of their matches to date. They will play Cape Cobras in one of the semis on Thursday at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad.

The winners in this inaugural tournament, which has attracted millions of viewers world-wide will take home a handsome US$2.5m, while the losing finalist will pocket US$1.3m. Teams which have placed from fifth to eighth will collect US$200,000, while the ninth to 12th place finishers will each receive US$100,000. Meanwhile, congratulatory messages continue to pour in for the well-displined and well-knitted T&T team. Leader of the Congress of the People, Winston Dookeran in a letter to skipper Ganga wrote that the team’s performance had caused a stir in T&T and across the Caribbean. “It is with great pride and joy within, that I congratulate you and your team on your outstanding victories thus far in the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) 20/Twenty Champions’ League. Your team’s performance has caused a stir in all of us here in T&T and I am certain, even across the entire West Indies.

“Mr Ganga, your team has beaten much vaunted opposition. “You have totally upset the apple cart in the process which is testament to your team’s unity, hard work and no doubt, your astute leadership. “We are so extremely proud of you. “So let me, on my own behalf and that of the Congress of the People and all of T&T congratulate you and your charges and assure you that we stand firmly behind you for the rest of the tournament. Your team has already put smiles on our faces and warmed our hearts—much needed in the midst of the troubling times our nation faces with crime and such like,” Dookeran stated. Meanwhile, West Indies manager Omar Khan told the Guardian yesterday the T&T team had really displayed an exceptional performance in this tournament.

“There is no question of the ability and talent that this team possess. And as my time as manager, I always instilled in them a high level of confidence and self-belief. More importantly, they have acquired a passion and pride to always do well and represent their country proudly,” Khan stated.

 
 

5

Football / Bolivia players quit national team

« on: October 02, 2009, 10:06:06 AM »

        Buzz up! 0 PrintLA PAZ, Sept 15th (Reuters) - Bolivia’s players have resigned from the national team indefinitely and are demanding reforms in the game from their federation (FBF) and the government, their union (Fabol) said on Tuesday.

The move could leave Bolivia without a squad to face Brazil at home and Peru away in their remaining World Cup qualifiers next month. Both are dead rubbers, however, since Brazil have qualified and Bolivia and Peru have been eliminated.

“Bolivian football is in a deep crisis and as long as our suggestions are not taken into account and implemented…the country’s professional footballers resign indefinitely from representing the national team,” Fabol said in a statement.

Bolivian President Evo Morales proposed last week that the state take charge of the game because of the national team’s poor results.

The Bolivia team are second-bottom of the 10-team South American group with 10 points from 16 games.

The union wants the game to be governed by a single executive body with an equal say for “the real actors in football, the players, coaches and referees” and more money injected into the game by the government.

Bolivian football is run by three separate entities, the FBF, the League and the national associations.

The country’s clubs were eliminated before the knockout phase of this year’s South American Libertadores Cup, mostly after heavy defeats. (Reporting by Diego Ore, writing by Rex Gowar in Buenos Aires, Editing by Ed Osmond, to query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)


For those of you who have forgotten, let me also remind all of you of this incident that took place in the 2006 World Cup.

Togo's long-running pay dispute appears to be over after FIFA guaranteed that the team's players would be given their money.

The Sparrowhawks are already out of the competition after losing 2-1 to South Korea and 2-0 to Switzerland but have a third game to play, against France, on Friday.

The players threatened to boycott Monday's game against Switzerland before eventually agreeing to play while coach Otto Pfister resigned before the South Korea match because of the ongoing row only to change his mind and return to his post.

FIFA's director of communications Markus Siegler confirmed: "The money is being paid by the Togolese FA out of their account.

"It is not additional money, it is money that belongs to the Togo FA. It is being drawn from their account and paid to the players. And that is, finally, the end of the matter."

Vival la revoluccion................

6

Football / The Great Creators - Which TnT footballer falls into this category

« on: May 14, 2009, 08:12:03 AM »

The great creators (FIFA.com)
Thursday 14 May 2009
 

With a modern focus on collective strength and shared responsibility, the classic playmaker of old has become a relic. Long gone are the days of a single man surveying the scene, usually with the No10 splashed across his back, dissecting the opposition with his vision and passing. FIFA.com takes a look back at the great creators of yesterday, and the few who remain to carry their torch.

Any discussion of the playmaking arts must begin in South America, where football defied its staid English origins and became a more elegant, artistic enterprise. One of the first true playmakers, Didi - following in the footsteps of his great Brazilian countryman Zizinho - set the bar high. Playing for a series of clubs in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, Didi (or Waldyr Pereira) earned 68 caps for Brazil. He was the driving force behind the FIFA World Cup™-winning sides of 1958 and 1962, and was named top player at the former.

Of Didi, whose passing skills and vision were unrivalled, Pele - perhaps the most iconic No10 in history - was full of praise. "He was a maestro," O'Rei said of his former team-mate. "He would see things others wouldn't and his passes would always surprise the opponent."

Mexico 1970: playmaker parade
Pele then joined one of the most intuitive teams in the history of the game. Winning the FIFA World Cup for the third time at Mexico 1970, he lined up alongside no less than three other outstanding central playmakers; Gerson, Rivelino and Tostao. Unwilling to leave such talents on the bench, coach Mario Zagallo put Rivelino, whom Diego Maradona called "an inspiration", on the left, employed Tostao as an out-and-out striker and Gerson in his usual central-midfield position. The results were astounding as Brazil went on to lift the trophy, scoring 19 goals in six games. To give some indication as to the number of creators available in Brazil in the summer of 1970, Ademir da Giua - Palmeiras's No10 and the club's greatest-ever player, could not even find a way into the squad.


He would see things others wouldn't and his passes would always surprise the opponent.
Pele on playmaker Didi


More recently, the likes of Zico, Socrates and Ronaldinho have carried the standard as pure playmakers for A Seleção.

Argentina, too, has rich tradition of classic creators. Maradona is the best-known, although some consider Ricardo Bochini, of Independiente fame, to have been an even superior playmaker. An ungainly and inconspicuous looking footballer, the precision of his passes and his cat-like vision have afforded him legendary status in his homeland. He even lined up, in the twilight of his career, alongside Maradona in the semi-finals of Mexico 1986, in a sentimental gesture by coach Carlos Bilardo.

Elsewhere in South America, Uruguayans Enzo Francescoli and Alvaro Recoba, the slow-moving Colombian Carlos Valderrama, and Ecuador's Alex Aguinaga have all made their presence felt in the centre of the park.

European roots
Some of the best-known playmakers also emerged in Europe in the 1950s. Chief among these early artists was Czech legend Josef Masopust, named Europe's top player in 1962 and renowned for his wide array of sharp passes. Other early trailblazers on the old continent included Nils Liedholm, who led Sweden to an Olympic title in 1948 and the 1958 FIFA World Cup Final on home soil. According to legend, it took him a full two years to misplace a pass at the San Siro after joining AC Milan. "He was incredible, he parted defences," said compatriot and former Rossoneri team-mate Gunnar Nordahl.

Jozsef Bozsik was a member of the great Hungarian side that stunned England 6-3 at Wembley in 1953. Slow of foot but sharp of mind, he was considered the greatest passer of his day. "He has no equal," Real Madrid and Hungary legend Ferenc Puskas, who played alongside one of the great all-time playmakers in Alfredo di Stefano, remarked of Bozsik. "He did things no one else could do. He wasn't just accurate, but he always chose the most dangerous pass. He was the greatest player I ever saw or knew."

The 1960s, 1970s and 1980s saw an ultra-talented second wave of playmakers emerge in Europe. Johan Cruyff was a liberated creator under the Dutch 'Total Football' system. Architecting from behind the strikers were France and Juventus's Michel Platini, who carried on from the early orchestrations of Raymond Kopa, and England's Glenn Hoddle, of whom Platini famously said: "If he were born French he would have had 150 caps," after Hoddle was neglected by a succession of English national team coaches.

Yesterday to today
Bernd Schuster is Germany's finest example. The 'Blond Angel' played for both Real Madrid and Barcelona in the 1980s, but his international career was cut short after a quarrel with then coach Jupp Derwall. "I am a sort of German-Spaniard," insisted the renegade creator, an artist very much outside of the rigid Germanic mould who found a home in Spain, where the legendary Luis Suarez laid early foundations.

The likes of Paul Gascoigne, Enzo Scifo, Fernando Redondo, Pep Guardiola, Michael Laudrup, Georgi Hagi, Robert Prosinecki, Zvonimir Boban and Zinedine Zidane have all made their mark. But by no means are the game's creators restricted to Europe and South America. Augustine 'Jay Jay' Okocha of Nigeria and Egyptian ace Mahmoud El Khatib have all proudly donned the No10 jersey, as have Shunsuke Nakamura of Japan and recent practitioners like Cuauhtemoc Blanco in Mexico.


He did things no one else could do. He wasn't just accurate, but he always chose the most dangerous pass.
Ferenc Puskas on Hungary legend József Bozsik


Despite a long and sparkling tradition of creative playmakers, the modern game has become more about expediency and collectivity than the orchestrations of an anointed few. Still, the likes of Juan Roman Riquelme, Francesco Totti, Cesc Fabregas, Andrea Pirlo and Xavi keep the tradition of the old masters alive.

One of the small cadre of current playmakers, Brazilian Alex of Fenerbahce had the final word in a recent interview with FIFA.com: "There's less space today than in the past and the focus is on fitness, but quality players can always find a way if they adapt."

7

Football / Fenwick questions Corneal's competence

« on: May 08, 2009, 11:36:00 PM »

Fenwick questions Corneal's competence.
By: Lasana Liburd (T&T Express).

'TTFF need better youth coaches'

Former England World Cup player and CLICO San Juan Jabloteh technical director, Terry Fenwick, has slammed Trinidad and Tobago national under-17 coach Anton Corneal for his team's performance at the recently-concluded CONCACAF tournament in Mexico and urged the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) to overhaul their youth coaching programme.

The national Under-17 team were beaten 7-0 by hosts Mexico and 3-0 by Costa Rica and Guatemala, respectively, in Tijuana.

Corneal, in a recent television interview, blamed the poor results on the attitude of his players and the fact that he had two years, rather than four, to prepare the squad.

Fenwick, who is a strong candidate for the 2008 Pro League "Coach of the Year" after Jabloteh defended their League crown and picked up the Toyota Classic and Lucozade Big Six titles, suggested that Corneal should accept responsibility and be made to account for his team's embarrassing returns.

"It is quite clear that the head coach and his assistant (Ma Pau coach Michael McComie) were out of their depth," said Fenwick. "He was very public with his confidence in the team before the tournament but he has done a complete U-turn and it is not his fault but the players' since then...

"It is the coach's job to create a structure that enables the players to use their talents effectively to ensure the team is successful Sometimes you are playing teams who are better than you and you have to pull yourself together and make your team hard to beat.

"How often do you see a 7-0 result in international football? That tells me his team wasn't very well-organised and I think that comes down to competence."

Corneal took Trinidad and Tobago to the FIFA Under-17 World Cup two years ago, while Zoran Vranes successfully steered his teenaged squad to the Egypt 2009 Under-20 World Cup. But Fenwick is unconvinced that successive World Cup berths reflected the quality of either coach.

The former Tottenham captain pointed out that the Under-20 and Under-17 squads both lost more qualifying matches than they won.

The successful 2007 Under-17 crop won two matches, lost two and qualified with a minus-three goal differential, while Vranes' under-20 team won one match, drew one and lost two.

Fenwick suggested the influence of FIFA vice-president Jack Warner was more instrumental than the direction of the respective youth coaches.

"At present, we are qualifying for tournaments by coming fourth or fifth from eight teams," said Fenwick. "But when we get there, we are not competitive. We have the players to be much better than that but we won't be once our coaching remains as poor as it is.

"In Trinidad, it is unprecedented the amount of time (national) coaches get with their teams but clearly they are not using it properly. Corneal has not coached at any recognisable level other than the national team. How has he got that job and how is he able to keep it with such shocking results?"

Fenwick might be skeptical of the present national youth team coaches but he insisted that there are promising coaches within the local fraternity who deserve a chance.

He declared that Angus Eve, Anthony Streete, Ross Russell, Clint Marcelle, Reynold Carrington, Clayton Morris, Bertille St Clair and Gally Cummings were all better than the TTFF's present youth coaches.

"Grassroots coaches must be doing something right when you look at some of the young talent," said Fenwick. "It's the national coaches who are continually laying blame on others when they fall short.

"They had two years with that team and the bottom line is they were found wanting."

8

Football / 2009 T&T Professional League

« on: April 29, 2009, 03:56:45 PM »

So the new season is upon us and new players have joined the league. Young players and future stars of the game that bring a new set of skills and a different set of attitude towards the game, that I for one, am anxious to see.  I could think of a couple players that maybe worth watching to see how they progress as players and grow as professionals. Players like Micah Lewis and Akeem Parris(JP), Judah Hernandez(CAL), Brenton De Leon(South End), etc.

Dexter Skeene and the owners of all the clubs must work together, and it's not going to be easy, to do everything in their power to promote the game in T&T to an international audience and at the same time must forge some kind of agreement with international sponsors to sponsor the league. Professionalism, a high level of training, fitness, nutrition and a new purpose for playing the beautiful game has to be instilled in each and every player. Football should be the players only job if it isn't already.

The game and the league in T&T has to be taken seriously, advertised, televised, and promoted in an intelligent manner if not to the rest of the world, then definitely to North Americans. The Jamaicans are ahead of us on that count as they have found a way to negotiate a deal with FSC to televise a game or two on FSC to all of North America and the rest of the world. We should look to follow suit, we must get our league and football of the ground and onto the television.

I know that I got carried away a little bit there but I am passionate about football in T&T and would like to see the game on FSC or ESPN2 or any other sports channel for that matter.

Oh, and by the way, I didn't forget the tactically technically feeble federation(ttff) that sucking the bejesus out of football in T&T has to be replaced with individuals who are really interested in doing everything in their power to make sure that we continue to evolve into a footballing powerhouse. Currently, we carrying other people's jock straps.