Back to business for Beenhakker
(Express)
Friday, May 19th 2006
The majority of Trinidad and Tobago's national football team appeared pleased with Barcelona's capture of the European Champions League crown on Wednesday night and memories would have come rushing back to T&T skipper Dwight Yorke as the Spanish club's late comeback was similar to what his Manchester United did back in 1999.
The T&T "Soca Warriors" were given the evening period off on Wednesday after one morning session on the pitch and then a press conference.
Most relaxed at the team camp at De Vere Carden Park, while others took the chance to go into nearby Chester Town. Some of them noticed the big banners promoting England's World Cup matches at the sidewalk bars, particularly the popular Brannagins, and there was a chuckle at the sight of Trinidad and Tobago as the opponent for June 15. Most of the passers-by would not have had the slightest clue that they were among the players who could possibly make England's German trip a glum one.
Trinidad and Tobago head coach Leo Beenhakker resumed with the accustomed double sessions yesterday and the players will have this evening off when they intend to engage in some windball cricket or cart racing, before flying off to Graz, Austria in the wee hours of tomorrow morning for another training camp at the IM Hotel in Bad Radkersburg.
So far the Soca Warriors have been proclaimed as a well-balanced and mixed outfit, based on questions and reports in the foreign media
Beenhakker also went about making that point clear when asked his thoughts on midfielder Chris Birchall being the first white player to score for T&T in many years.
"It doesn't matter at all. It has nothing to do with if my players are red, white, black or yellow," Beenhakker said. "It's the same and I don't base my selections on race or colour. Chris has been a good addition to the team and, just like the rest of my players, once he can fit in and make the right kind of contribution then it's good for all of us."
He also said there was no difference in his job between leading Holland to Italy for the 1990 World Cup to coaching T&T in 2006.
"The place makes no difference whether it's with a big club or a small country. I love it everyday until now. It's football," he told Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (T&TFF) media officer Shaun Fuentes.
"The football on Trinidad (and Tobago) is based on a Caribbean and Central American style. With some days, especially in our first days there, it was a little bit mixed up because there were guys playing all over. But we worked on it and we made important decisions. Actual football is more than ever a passing game, with heavy patience and taking time to win the ball. It (T&T's style) is now a mixture of the talent and skills of the players and my idea of how to actually play the game," Beenhakker added.
T&T team chef Cecil Wint had the players smiling last night as following an 11 vs 11 session on the pitch, they were then treated to a well-balanced dinner which included stew chicken and ox-tail pelau.
It was the right platter before watching the live cricket action between West Indies and India from Jamaica on Sky TV.
