Lawrence & Yorke says Warriors will do it for all.
By: Shaun Fuentes.[/size]
The man whose goal headed Trinidad and Tobago forward to the 2006 World Cup will take the pitch a bit saddened that his close friend and playing partner Marvin Andrews will not be at his side. But in spite of this, defender Dennis Lawrence has vowed to give his everything along with the rest of the “Soca Warriors” as they come up against Sweden from 12 midday T&T time.
“Lawrence was among the players which had a one hour session at the match stadium under hot conditions as Leo Beenhakker had a final look at his team while Andrews did some recovery work indoors as he aims to better his strained knee ligament which has ruled him out of the opening match.
Lawrence is positive as he spoke after dinner and a team meeting at the Hilton Hotel in Dortmund. Before that, a host of T&T fans welcomed the team back at the hotel including Minister of Sport Roger Boynes.
“We are all excited and looking forward to it. We all understand how important the game bit just to us as players but to T&T on a whole. We have to be relaxed and focused on the job at hand,” Lawrence told TTFF Media.
The Wrexham favourite has been in the limelight since his winning header over Bahrain on November 16, 2005 and now less than twenty four hours before reality hits, he is feeling the real success of achieving the qualification milestone.
“Personally it’s a massive achievement for myself and I tend to enjoy it a lot more when the team and the country can be part of the success. It’s a huge milestone for me ad will be one the best days in my career and one I will maybe never forget. It’s just so much a chance for us to get a positive result.”
And undoubtedly, he will be missing Marvin as too will his other teammates.
“I played with Marvin regularly and obviously whoever the manager decides to play in his position will have to fit in. We have to play together as a team and if the player wasn’t good enough he would not be here. It’s sad for Marvin and it’s sad for me because you know Marvin is a close friend of mine At the end of the day he will be wanting the team to do well and whoever comes in will have to adapt to the job hand,” Lawrence said.
And he has realistic expectations.“My expectations are for us to go out and give a good performance. Once we can do that and with a bit of luck, the result will be right for us. This is the stage of us to go out and represent Trinidad and Tobago and that’s all we want to do and we want to do in a positive way.”
Skipper Yorke maintained that a good start will get T&T’s momentum going for the rest of the Group stage.
“If we can get something from this first game, without a doubt it will be a big boost for us and it will set the momentum,” Yorke told TTFF Media. “This is the ultimate for all of us and we are all looking forward to it. We will enjoy it as the manager and that’s what I will say to the guys. We have to let everything happen naturally.”
“Everything on name or on paper doesn’t count for anything and I have a deep feeling that if we can stick to our game and we can play well then there’s a good reason we can come out of this game with something positive,” ended the skipper.
Earlier on in the day, Warriors arrived at the Hilton in Dortmund by bus shortly after 1pm on Friday ahead of their opening World Cup fixture against Sweden tomorrow from 6pm German time.
Skipper Dwight Yorke and company made their way off the bus in front of close to 50 T&T fans who had pulled up in a bus moments earlier to also check in at the same venue, having come on a charter and were fortunate to be booked in the same hotel with their team .
The excitement among them did cause a bit of a stir but the Warriors were quickly escorted to their rooms on the first floor which is under security and then off the dining room for lunch.
Among the bunch was Glasgow Rangers defender Marvin Andrews who was in high spirits in spite of his strained knee ligament suffered in training yesterday in Rotenburg. Andrews went off to hospital with Doctor Terence Babwah but has claimed that he is feeling fine but Beenhakker will not have him involved, having announced this at a media briefing at the stadium before the training has started.
Goalie Kelvin Jack came through training well on Thursday as well as Friday and has been deemed fit for selection.
On the way to Dortmund, there were crews of Swedish supporters making their way through in vehicles sporting their country's colours and it is expected that the T&T posse will represent just as well over the next 24 hours as they have kept the flag flying with top gear performances by Phase II as well as the other cultural performers who have made their presence felt in Dortmund.
"We are just delighted to be here in the match city," Hislop told TTFF Media. "I think everyone realises the importance of settling in and focusing on the game tomorrow. We've had a good week so far here and we intend to keep going in this light," he added.
News from the 09th of June 2006.No more dreams, it’s reality time.
By: Shaun Fuentes.[/size]
Trinidad and Tobago’s Soca Warriors will depart Rotenburg for Dortmund via bus at 4am T&T Time (10am German time) on the eve of their official first ever World Cup encounter against Sweden.
Over the past couple days, aside from all the emotions and the anticipation of this summer’s World Cup since the team qualified on November 16, 2005 in Bahrain, the team members have gone into a different mindset, unique maybe to anyone from Trinidad and Tobago because of the fact that in less than twenty four hours they will take the grand stage which no other national team from T&T team has gone on before and all ex-nationals who were close to it will more than likely feel the emotions when the team walks onto the pitch.
For the T&T faithful, it is certain to be a first time experience as well and pores are raising at almost every thought or talk of Saturday’s match.
Head coach Leo Beenhakker held one session with the team on Thursday evening at the training pitch in Rotenburg where he used the opportunity to do some fine tuning as what appeared to be the starting eleven for the first match got the chance to engage in a scrimmage against the second eleven behind closed doors. The media had in fact a 15-minute window during the warm up period for photo opportunities.
The session was full of life and skipper Yorke and company appeared to be loving every moment of the lead up to the match. No doubt their aim is to take this mood right into the game itself.
There has been questions over whether Beenhakker will go with Kelvin Jack in goal or West Ham’s Shaka Hislop. There remains a question mark over Jack following his calf strain on Tuesday but no final decision has been taken as yet.
Jack however remained optimistic adding that overall the “Soca Warriors” are “It’s not a dream anymore, it’s a reality,” Jack emphatically told TTFF Media on Thursday. “At the end of the day our aim is to get a positive result”
From a player’s perspective, Jack added “It’s not easy. It’s not fun and games in the camp but in saying that we are all enjoying it and now it’s a matter of getting mentally tuned in because there’s not much you can do physically now. It’s about ensuring that you are aware of what your job is and putting it into one package for the game.
“We are very fortunate to have a manager as experienced as Leo with his assistants. You also have Dwight Yorke and he is crucial to be honest. I think he is our talisman and his influence in the team goes without saying and we are very thankful for this. But in saying that Dwight is also inexperienced in terms of World Cup football. You never know what can happen and hopefully we can do well in this venture,” Jack added.
He added that he was a realist and he felt on paper that the likes of Sweden, Paraguay and England are the favourites in the group.
“On paper, Sweden, England and Paraguay are supposed to beat us. That’s the reality. The magical thing about World Cup and football, it’s not all the time that the team that is supposed to win actually wins. We are hoping to play well and if you do that most of the time you can get a positive result. We want to eliminate the unforced errors and if we do that then we stand a good chance.”
And as to how the former San Juan Jabloteh and Dundee custodian feels about the first choice in goal on Saturday, he is doing his best to be eligible.
I am doing everything possible to be at the coach’s disposal for Saturday’s game. The medical staff is doing everything possible to make me fit. It’s unfortunate because I have never had a problem with my calf before. It is tight now. I was able to do a bit today and fingers crossed and God willing I will be ready for Saturday and let’s wait to see,” he ended also aware that Sweden’s first choice Andreas Isaksson will miss Saturday’s match after suffering a concussion on Wednesday in training.
Meantime, the official site for the tournament, fifaworldcup.com has described all the captains and Yorke has been termed a special talent and he fell under the motivator category.
“At 34 years of age, this summer's tournament will be Yorke's first-ever FIFA World Cup finals, and you can be sure that the T&T captain and coach Leo Beenhakker's "special player" will be up for the challenge,” the site stated.
The T&T team, which will play in red tops and black pants on Saturday, will have a final session at the match stadium from 12 midday TT time (6pm German time).
* - Part 2 - Photos of the team in Germany,
click here.Video/Media Section.* -
Trinidad & Tobago Cultural Arrival Dortmund Germany 2006 Video.* -
Leo Beenhakker talks at the team's official press conference in Rotenburg.* -
Leo Beenhakker Interview on arriving in Germany.
News from the 07th of June 2006.Soca Warriors counting down to Saturday’s big one.
By: Shaun Fuentes.[/size]
Trinidad and Tobago head coach Leo Beenhakker has planned a fully intense training session on Wednesday morning at the base ground in Rotenburg as the “Soca Warriors” count down the final 72 hours before their long anticipated debut World Cup match against Sweden in Dortmund.
So far the “Soca Warriors” have undergone a compact preparation camp leading up to the 2006 World Cup which kicks off on Friday when the hosts take on Costa Rica and with the excitement building, so too is the anticipation in the T&T camp and Beenhakker knows fully well what to do during the critical days before taking such a stage.
Big audience for open session. Following the morning session, the players will then return to the venue for a light session which will be opened to the media as well as the fans and the T&T contingent has been told to expect no less than 3,000 fans at the session. As a result of that, unlike the regular dozen or so officers who have been at the sessions so far, some sixty security and police officers will be ensuring all is secure for the “Soca Warriors” on Wednesday.
Over one hundred journalists are expected for the session which is expected to go no longer than one hour and then the players will enter the mix zone in a group comprising half the team to conduct interviews with the team and the other half will be at the opposite end signing autographs and meeting the fans. They will then interchange during a half hour period before returning to the Hotel. The session will be shown to over 10 million viewers in the north of Germany. The T&T media also started arriving here on Monday and will be expected at the venue along with other T&T fans in the area.
Mayor’s full cooperation.The Mayor of Rotenberg, Detlef Eichinger has also offered full services from his corporation towards the T&T contingent here and has made available his meeting office, referred here to as “local parliament” to the team for press conferences. But for Wednesday’s press conference with Beenhakker, the city museum was agreed as the venue and according to if bigger accommodation is needed for future occasions then Eichinger’s offer will be taken up.
One training session will be held on Thursday evening and then the team will depart for Dortmund at 9am (3am TT time) on Friday before having a final session at the match stadium - Westfalenstadion which is known nationwide here as the Germany Bundesliga’s “Opera House”.
Hotel director Hotel director Heiko Kehrstephan has also been working tirelessly to ensure that the team is fully comfortable and there has been hardly anything that have not been properly dealt with.
Calf strain for Jack, Glen’s spirit up again. At Tuesday’s session, Beenhakker worked with two groups and also allowed the attackers to do some sharp work but there was one hiccup with goalkeeper Kelvin Jack having to walk off icing a mild strained calf. He is expected to be ready for training again on Thursday. But there was better news for Falkirk midfielder Densill Theobald who began sprinting again and doing ball work after suffering a bruised ankle in the Czech Republic friendly.
“I think generally everything has gone to planned so far and it’s just a matter of us keeping our focus and putting everything in place for our opening match,” Yorke told TTFF Media. “We know what we have to do and the rest we will see on Saturday.”
There was also encouraging news for striker Cornell Glen who made his first appearance in a match on Monday for some weeks after suffering a hamstring injury. According to Glen, positive thinking and encouragement from Beenhakker and the coaching staff helped him back to fitness.
“I felt good in the match but I felt a bit nervous going into it because I wanted to make sure that I came out of it feeling good. All in all I was pretty much okay and the coach was satisfied. I am just trying to get my touch back going into this game,” Glen told TTFF Media.
“This morning at practice, he (Beenhakker) told me to keep working hard and don’t stop now even though I’m feeling better. I will keep working, not just on my leg but trying to get better and faster as well. It was a bit frustrating seeing the guys in matches and not being able to go out there but I kept focused and I tried hard to get fit. You saw what happened to Silvio and it was a bit unfortunate but you just have to stay positive and keep working. Saturday is the biggest game for us now because a win can put us in a wonderful position. We need to get something out of it and maybe send a message to the other teams.”
‘Latas’ keeps on working.Russell Latapy meantime has made it public that he is fully prepared to work for his place in the team and understands that he is not a sure starter.
The Falkirk midfielder spoke to reporters in the mix zone after the 2-1 win over FC St Pauli on Monday. I really don't know, competition is very tough for places," the 37-year-old Latapy told reporters.
"All I can do is try and do my best to prove myself. It is up to the coach after that. I don’t know what will happen and the competition is huge at the moment for places. But it’s obvious that it is a big ambition for myself and the other players to be on this stage and I think we are working well as a team to give a good account,” Latapy added.
News from the 6th of June 2006.Time for energy.
By: Shaun Fuentes.[/size]
National team coach Leo Beenhakker very calmly took in Monday evening’s 2-1 victory over German Third Division side FC St Pauli but it was the 20,000 odd fans and the hundreds outside Millerntor-Stadion in Hamburg's who took their support to a next level as they sang jubilantly and waved Trinidad and Tobago flags throughout the evening’s proceedings.
Played under what the Germans are claiming to be unusually cold ‘summer’ conditions, the “Soca Warriors” took a comfortable 2-0 lead through Southampton striker Kenwyne Jones and St Johnstone striker Jason Scotland in the 14th and 27th minutes before the traditionally popular homeside pulled a goal back from the penalty spot through Thomas Meggle in the 53rd minute to make a match of it.
The match had an ugly scene when defender Charles, who had handled the ball for the St Pauli penalty, was then involved in a clash with an opposing player and both he and Robert Palikuca were sent off in the 83rd minute. Defender Sancho also suffered a busted lip in the match but is okay and will participate in the one training session carded for Tuesday.
Beenhakker used a team of players who had seen little action in the build up so far with midfielder Russell Latapy skippering the team with the likes of Dwight Yorke, Dennis Lawrence, Marvin Andrews, Stern John, Aurtis Whitley, Kelvin Jack, Shaka Hislop and Carlos Edwards all being rested.
This gave others such as Anthony Wolfe, Ian Cox, Atiba Charles, Clayton Ince, Brent Sancho, Cornell Glen, Kenwyne Jones and Evans Wise the chance to run out before the partisan crowd.
Only Avery John and second half substitute Chris Birchall were asked to take the pitch from among the regulars on tour so far.
Apart from the pitch action, everything from the team’s arrival at the Stadium to the 12 security officers on either side to keep the bus clear of fans on exiting would have left the T&T faithful, including Jack Warner who was at the FIFA Congress in Munich on the day, immensely proud of what had transpired.
“This is amazing. Imagine that these people have taken to us like this,” said midfielder Densill Theobald who also sit out the match with an ankle blow.
FIFA media officer Rob de Leede, who is a former Dutch national team media officer at the 1998 World Cup, and part of the current T&T contingent described it as “simply amazing”.
“What we have seen over the two days and particularly today at the match is simply amazing, We didn’t get this kind of response with the Dutch team and it shows that Trinidad and Tobago has attracted massive interest. And because you are considered underdogs as well means that the people love you even more,” de Leede told TTFF Media.
“And trust me, it will be four or five times bigger when you go to Dortmund for the Sweden match and the other two matches to follow.”
Yorke felt similarly and you could bet that he was smiling at the same time as he appears to be on a different planet like his teammates when they realize all the euphoria surrounding the “Soca Warriors”.
“It’ always good to win because that gets the confidence going,” Yorke told TTFF Media. “We have worked hard and long preparing for this stage and we will continue to fine tune ourselves over the next few days and obviously the coach has his plans and he knows what he has prepared for us. Hopefully we can get things in place and be ready to open our World Cup stage.”
He also laughed off questions as to whether the inclement weather was affecting the team.
“What do you mean? If the rain is difficult for us? No it’s not. We have a lot of guys accustomed to these conditions but hopefully it will get better for everyone involved. The most important thing for us is that we are ready for this historical moment and no it’s not really going to be hard for us against England,” he added when once again be asked as to whether he felt T&T could withstand the pressure of playing such a team. “First up we have to play Sweden and we will put all our energy into it. And so far the support has been unbelievable for us as well so far.”
Beenhakker also told the massive amount of media present that he did not feel the team had played too many games in the build up.
“When you look at all the other teams, they are all playing and it’s what you do when you are preparing for a tournament like this. I am again happy for the kind of game we got today and it was a chance for some of the other guys to play because when you have a squad of 23 players, everyone needs to be playing and ready.”
Beenhakker and company have also seen that the T&T fans have started arriving in Germany and the sounds of Maximus Dan’s Fighter was blasting at the entrance to the stadium along with several other current and retro Soca hits.
And as the players made their way onto the bus for the drive back to the Landhaus Wachtelhof Hotel, it was only fitting for one red clad fan with a T&T flag draped over him to shout “We Reach!!!!!”
Line-Up.22-Clayton Ince, 3-Avery John (7-Christopher Birchall 46th), 2-Ian Cox, 17-Atiba Charles, 5-Brent Sancho, 16-Evans Wise, 10-Russell Latapy (capt), 20-Jason Scotland, 23-Anthony Wolfe, 15-Kenwyne Jones, 13-Cornell Glen.
* - See photos of the team in Germany,
click here.
