Soca Warriors play first training match in Austria today.
By: Shaun Fuentes.[/size]
Austrian fans will get a little more than the chance to see the Trinidad and Tobago World Cup squad in training after a decision was taken to allow the public to view Tuesday’s training match against champion club Austria Vienna.
The game, originally carded as a closed doors affair, will now allow the fans to enter the Thermen Arena for a small admission fee to see the Soca Warriors in action from 5:30pm (11:30am T&T time).
Visiting media from Germany and England were also happy to learn on Monday that they will have access to the match which will allow Leo Beenhakker to use all of his players as he indicated on the weekend in the team’s first outing since leaving Trinidad a couple weekends ago.
Beenhakker did emphasize that the game is a training exercise and will be treated that way before the first official international against Wales on Saturday in Graz. The Dutchman will allow each player to at least play 45 minutes on Tuesday against a Vienna team which will be minus some of its first team players who are coming off a championship winning season.
On the eve of the encounter, two full sessions took place under cool conditions described “As perfect for preparations” by skipper Dwight Yorke and the general mood in camp was a high one as the players were able to build a comfortable sweat out on the pitch before recovering in the sauna at the Hotel Im Park.
It was big news here on Monday too that seven teams participating in the 2006 World Cup have chosen Austria for training camps before the tournament.
T&T’s Group B opponents Paraguay, Czech Republic, who will meet T&T in a friendly on June 3, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro , Ghana and Saudia Arabia have selected Austria, the neighbour country of Germany to prepare for the purpose of adaptation to the climate and time difference.
Paraguay are based in Flachau and they will play Georgia in Dornbim on May 31, Czech and Saudi Arabia are based in Seefeld, Ghana are located in Seeboden and Serbia and Montenegro will arrive in Velden an Wirthsee at the end of May. The seven countries including T&T are carded to play a total of eight training matches here.
Kian Walizabeh the T&T team liason officer attached to the Styria International football camp added that the people of Bad Radkersburg have been thrilled to host the Soca Warriors in the lead up to the World Cup.
The Styria camp, which is employed by the Styrian Government, stages training camps for visiting teams in twelve locations throughout Austria.
Walizabeh himself has worked with teams such as Real Madrid, Arsenal, AS Roma, Everton, Glasgow Rangers and Celtic.
“We feel very happy and proud especially that our target was to get such an excited team like Trinidad and Tobago here,” Walizabeh told TTFF Media on Monday
“They are an eye catcher at the World Cup. They are the underdogs but we realize a lot of the media is interested in Trinidad and it has been positive news all around. We felt Beenhakker’s selection of this venue was excellent because we have realized the players are happy here and they are also enjoying riding to the training grounds and the facilities here are of a high standard,” he said.
“Austria is famous for winter sports and thousands of people will stand in the freezing weather to see someone do something crazy down a hill covered in snow but football is the main attraction in the summer and now is the best time for teams to prepare for a season or a tournament. Now that we have your country here I can assure you everyone wants to see more football at this time in this area,” Walizabeh added.
Meantime, Wales will arrive in Graz on Thursday following their 1-0 win over a Basque XI on Sunday courtesy of a 75th minute goal by skipper Ryan Giggs. Manager John Toshack said the result was a good one for his team ahead of the match up with T&T.
“The result will give particularly some of the younger ones a bit of confidence. But we still haven't found the right balance and if we may have to sacrifice a little bit in attack to be more solid.But we matched that, played some neat, controlled football, and it was really rewarding against some very experienced international players who have been playing well in top Spanish football for a long time." Saturday’s game which kicks off at 6:15 pm (12:15pm T&T time) will be shown live on BBC.
