More Warriors, less Soca...
By: Ian Prescott.
Trinidad and Tobago's senior national football team will now be known as the Warriors, having dropped the Soca tag.
Yesterday, FIFA vice-president and Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (T&TFF) adviser Jack Austin Warner announced a name change in keeping with the effort to get T&T to the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Warner said "Soca Warriors" implied gaiety, a stark contrast to Trinidad and Tobago's effort at World Cup qualification, which he said was serious business.
Warner was speaking at a news conference at which Telecommunication Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT) handed out 30 cell phones to the team and announced the setting up of an interactive website dedicated to the team's progress to Germany.
The telephone company has also commissioned entertainer Bunji Garlin to sing the theme song for the Warriors' qualification campaign.
At a time when it was no secret that sponsorship funds were short, Warner applauded the efforts of TSTT, which has injected $3 million into the effort.
Apart from his own "contribution" of $7 million, Warner said TSTT is the team's major sponsor, while both Busta and Kentucky Fried Chicken have injected $1 million apiece.
But Warner said the Warriors still need support. He reported that it was costing $1 million to fund the team's next trip in which they leave on Sunday for Miami, USA, where they will train for four days, before tackling Honduras in a warm-up game on Tuesday.
The Warriors will then meet Guatemala in their next World Cup qualification match on Sunday March 26, before hosting Costa Rica at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on March 30 in another World Cup qualifier.
Airfare for the trip will amount to approximately $450,000.
At the press conference, Ian Joseph, TSTT's vice-president of mobile services, announced the staging of a promotion aimed at raising $500,000 for the Warriors during the qualifying campaign.
"TSTT will also start a text message campaign from tomorrow that will continue for each of the qualifying matches. This promotion will invite the public to send a text message of their predictions for the outcome of the matches, with the winners earning valuable hampers and gifts," said Joseph.
"It is another first of its kind for Trinidad and Tobago and in the case of our 'Text The Score' promotion, part of the proceeds of the cost of each text message will raise funds to further aid our Warriors in their preparation on this journey to Germany," he added.
And having returned from a trip to England on Wednesday night, national coach Bertille St Clair said his journey there was very fruitful and all the overseas-based professionals had pledged their full commitment to the team.
St Clair has selected Shaka Hislop, Dwight Yorke, Stern John, Silvio Spann, Hector Sam, Ian Cox, Marvin Andrews, Brent Sancho, Kenwyne Jones and Clayton Ince as the overseas pros, who will join the T&T-based players for the trip to Guatemala.
There are injury doubts about United States-based Cornell Glen and also English based Clayton Ince.
St Clair also made a brave statement about the Warriors' chances in the qualifying campaign.
"This team is going to do well," said St Clair, who urged the media and public to support the national squad. "This is about Trinidad and Tobago. This is not about Bertille St Clair."
Skipper Angus Eve also echoed similar sentiment and said Trinidad and Tobago are at the stage where Jamaica were at before they qualified for the 1998 World Cup. He said the nation needed a lift from the crime situation and he believes that the Warriors could provide a social relief if they were to qualify for the 2006 World Cup.
