Beenhakker satisfied with build up plans.
By: Shaun Fuentes.
National team head coach Leo Beenhakker has indicated his intentions of adding new blood to the “Soca Warriors” line up as they prepare to go into preparation gear ahead of June’s 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Beenhakker, in his first appearance for the local media since his return to Trinidad on Monday, that he will have maybe three new players in the squad to face Iceland on February 28 but is also aiming to protect the squad of players which took care of the job of getting T&T to its first ever World Cup.
Over the past few weeks, Beenhakker and assistant coach have been viewing some T&T talent in the UK Leagues and will continue to look at other local talent as he intends to have training camps here with players which he says he still needs to decide on.
“There are a few other players, new players that we saw. At least they all made an impression that they deserve a chance to demonstrate if they can be very valuable to the team yes or no. I will invite one or two of these guys for the Iceland game I will advise these guys without any guarantees and conclusions,” Beenhakker said.
“The actual situation in relation with the 23 players that will go to Germany is that normally when they are fit, and in good shape, when they play more regular with their clubs, about 15 or 16 from the have their ticket for Germany already,” he explained, adding that he hopes to find more left sided players and maybe younger ones because of the fact that only Avery John is left footed on the team currently and that there are still some veterans in the team who could be complimented by younger legs.
“That means that the door is still open for several players to step into the team. It’s early now to say if we will have changes to the team and in that way we are still working on it.
“But once again, the most important part is to take care and to protect the actual team and to give them all the credit and all the respect and protect the team spirit. From one side the door is open and the other side the first option is with the players who did the job.”
His intention is to look at the home-based players alongside Rijsbergen and assistant Anton Corneal.
“First of all, we don’t have to forget that there several local players who were part of the team before that will now have the possibility to make the step to the team. It’s a difficult situation because they have no club activities at the moment. What we will do now is give our attention to these players.
“Based on the job Anton did the last few weeks with the Under 21 and Under 23 players, we possibly have some interesting players who at the moment are still working, living and playing in the USA. We will give them the chance. Apart of that, you can imagine there are a lot of stuff to arrange around the World Cup and the preparations. We will have a lot of meetings with Mr Warner and the management team of the federation to arrange everything perfectly over the months of May and June,” the former Real Madrid coach added.
Responding to questions about his change of mind to play a final farewell match versus Peru in May after earlier saying he was against any matches in Port of Spain, Beenhakker said he understood fully that the people wanted to their team in action and as such, he saw no problem in fitting it into the preparation schedule.
“I have said from the beginning that listen, the World Cup will be played in Europe so that is normal that you make your preparations also in Europe and you look for opponents who have relation in their style and mentality of playing in relation to Sweden, England and Paraguay. On the other hand I understand very well that it is a very historic moment in T&T. There is a lot of interest from all sides to have a farewell game. At the moment Mr Warner is discussing with me and I agree. I have no problem to be here. But I am looking forward to have a great farewell game here in May.”
He’s also hoping the likes of Densill Theobald (Falkirk), Cyd Gray and Aurtis Whitley can make a good impression in Europe.
“First of all I am very happy for them to have the possibility to play overseas. For many of the guys here its a dream to play over there. What happened to Densill is great for him especially in relation to his age. Hopefully they can find a club there and realize their dreams I will manage them the same as the other overseas players and in that way it makes no difference for me. It’s the same with me. At least I know when they are there, they are fully training because the season will go on there they wont have any breaks. They will play their matches so it’s great stuff that they are there.”
He also reflected on the draw in relation to his arranging of preparations for June.
“I like the group very much. First of all, I wouldn’t say it’s an honour, but it’s always something special to play England for everybody who lives in the football world because England is team with great history and especially because most of the players are playing in England, it’s special to play them. Sweden is a very interesting opponent with a totally different style – a Scandanavian style but it’s one of the better European teams Paraguay has the Latin American style of football and I like that.
“Most of all, on one side we came as the last team to qualify for the World Cup, we are the smallest team, but at the same time, we can have a good preparation for what will be three very tough matches to have any possibility to go to the second round. On the other hand, its not impossible,” he added, explaining that the team has had only four and five days prior to previous matches and he thinks it will benefit more now with an extended time for preparation.
Asked about whether he was satisfied with the way T&T’s preparation schedule has been drawn up, the Dutchman replied with a laugh: “Yes I am very satisfied because I did it myself so hopefully I’m satisfied about it.”
“We made, within the circumstances, the perfect preparation. We have a general schedule where we will start here on May 7/8, a few days before the Peru game. Then we go to England where we have found a wonderful location for 8 or 9 days. There will do a lot of fitness based on football so we won’t be running a marathon there. Then we have two weeks in Austria where it’s perfect conditions to work there with a fantastic pitch near the hotel. We have the chance to play four games there with three official friendly internationals and one against a club team. Then it’s easy from there to make our trip tour base camp in Germany. “In that way, in my opinion and based on our experience, it’s absolutely perfect,” Beenhakker ended.
Local players upset with World Cup pay.
By: Nigel Simon (Guardian).[/size]
Members of the national football team who played in the early rounds of the Concacaf qualifying matches leading up to the World Cup Finals are unhappy with their rewards.
The players met with members of the Football Federation, including team manager Bruce Aanensen, yesterday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium to discuss their concerns.
Some 55 team members will receive bonus payments for leading the team to its first World Cup Finals.
The total number of players represents those who were part of the national squad dating back to T&T’s first qualifying match against Dominican Republic on June 20, 2004 up to T&T’s 1-0 second-leg win over Bahrain in Manama on November 16 last year.
The players are to share just over US$1.6 million, part of the US $6 million Swiss francs, for qualification to Germany.
Among members of the T&T team who met with Aanensen were Anthony Rougier, Cornell Glen, Kerwyn Jemmott, Anthony Wolfe, Glenton Wolfe, Anton Pierre, Gary Glasgow, Nigel Pierre, Jerren Nixon, Kerry Baptiste, Scott Sealy, Brent Rahim, Duarance Williams, Jan-Michael Williams, Nigel Henry, David Atiba Charles, Errol Mc Farlane Jr, Michael Celestine and Arnold Dwarika.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, one player explained that the group of players understood fully that they were not there in the end.
“But at the same time, we feel that being there at the start of the journey was as important.”
Another touchy issue was that the players felt the T&TFF should have first made sure that everyone was happy with what they were getting before finalising a figure to be given to charity.
The T&TFF said that the players had decided that a balance of US $36,822 was for two local charities, one in Tobago and the other in Trinidad.
“We are not against giving money to charities, but we would have liked to meet with the representatives of the T&TFF before this was done.”
In the release from the T&TFF on Monday it was stated that the proposal which came after the first three final round matches when T&T held one point was presented to the players, and they all agreed that the players who were part of the final round squad would benefit from the amount.
Players who were part of the team in the second round (T&T had a first round bye) and semi-final round would also receive a bonus payment.
According to the release the overall structure of payment was once based on a points per match system and players’ overall international appearances which was mutually agreed upon by all parties involved.
In response, Aanensen explained that some of the players did not fully understand how the payments were worked out. “I believed some of them feel that they were entitled to a little more than they will be actually receiving.”
He added: “The players who were involved in the first round were not originally going to be part of the pay-out.
“An agreement was reached between the players representative and the T&TFF representative at the beginning of the second round of matches in terms of incentives and reward for the players.
“However Mr Warner felt he needed to reward everyone who was involved in the team’s journey to the finals.”
Asked if all the guys were happy at the end of the meeting the team manager said: “We are all human and it is only natural to feel that you deserved more that you got in the end.”
Canada cruises past Soca Princesses.
canadasoccer.com.
Canada’s U20 Women’s National Team began its road to the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Championship by doing just what was expected of them today when they dispatched of Trinidad and Tobago 7-1 in Veracruz, Mexico.
Canada almost found themselves down a goal inside the opening ten minutes when an indirect free kick from the top of the Canadian area sailed untouched into the back of the net. But the Panamanian referee correctly waved off the goal immediately.
The scare of going a goal down seemed to awaken the Canadians and shortly after, Lisa Collison started things rolling when she received a quickly taken free kick from the always clever Veronique Maranda and coolly slid her shot past the T&T ‘keeper for the opener.
Maranda, Aysha Jamani and Jodi-Ann Robinson then stretched the lead to four when they found the back of the net thrice in twelve minutes, virtually dashing any hopes the Soca Princesses had of stealing points in the tournament opener.
But it was Maranda’s goal that drew the most attention.
The University of Tennessee midfielder coaxed two T&T defenders toward her near the end-line, just outside the penalty area, then spun the first and chipped the ball just beyond the second. Before either could react, the St-Lambert native slammed her shot into the upper corner to the approval of everyone at the ground.
Though Trinidad & Tobago grabbed a goal back from the penalty spot in minute 57, the Canadians tacked on another three goals courtesy of two second half substitutes.
Kaylen Kyle reignited Canada’s offense in minute 78, and the pacy Rheanne Sleiman rounded off the contest with a brace in the final eight minutes.
“An energizing, offensive start to the tournament” was the way Canadian Head Coach Ian Bridge described the opener.
“We utilized our quick passing and our fast thinking strikers today and probably should have scored more than seven goals.
“Trinidad & Tobago challenged us with their pace and athleticism as well as a more direct approach in attack, but as long as we can continue to improve game to game, this young squad will be hard to beat.”
In the second Group A match, Mexico hammered Panama 10-0.
Canada will now prepare for its second match of the opening round against Panama on Friday, January 20 while tournament host-Mexico entertain Trinidad & Tobago in the second match of the day.
CAN:
1-Stephanie Labbe – 3-Sophie Schmidt-C, 4-Caroline Vanderpool, 7-Jodi-Ann Robinson (64: 6-Kaylen Kyle), 8-Veronique Maranada, 10-Amanda Cicchini, 11-Desiree Scott, 14-Aysha Jamani (87: 5-Emily Zurrer), 16-Paige Adams, 18-Eden Hingwing, 19-Lisa Collison (64: 13-Reanner Sleiman).
Booked:
Hingwing 58’, Kyle 89’
TRI:
1-Kimika Forbes – 2-Ayana Russell, 3-Anastasia Prescott, 4-Katrina Meyer (89: 14-Marissa Mohammed), 5-Kia Rigsby (45: 6-Jemilia Mathlin), 7-Dernelle Mascall, 8-Patrice Superville, 9-Maylee Attin-Johnson-C, 10-Aveann Douglas, 16-Christine Rose (45: 18-Stephanie De Souza), 19-Kennya Cordner.
Booked:
Rose 20’, Prescott 25’
