Brazilian double defeats new-look T&T.
By: Shaun Fuentes.[/size]
A new-look Trinidad and Tobago senior team was not disgraced as it went down 2-0, conceding both goals in the first half to Japan before 50,000 odd fans at the Tokyo National Stadium on Wednesday evening.
With T&T having debutants Clyde Leon and Stephan David in its starting line up along with several other fresh faces, they fell behind to two early goals to Brazilian-born striker Alessandro Alex.
A free kick was perfectly directed into the right corner past an outstretched Jan Michael Williams from atop the box and then the same player met a pass from Yuichi Komano and neatly lobbed an advancing Williams for goal number two.
With the likes of striker Anthony Wolfe, midfielder Evans Wise and defenders Atiba Charles, Cyd Gray and Avery John carrying the World Cup experience, the Soca Warriors had to work hard to match the quick running Japanese but they picked their game up and came away with an improved second half performance which could have easily seen them nick a couple goals.
The home fans were voiceferous throughout the encounter with only a small group of 60 odd Japanese fans choosing to wear the T&T colours and beat some steel pan. The evening's proceedings was always going to be a worthwhile experience to the T&T players.
Williams had some early work to do as the home side came at the T&T defense and it was not until the 29th minute that Gray had T&T's first real attempt at goal a one time volley which ended on the upper end of the net.
Glasgow then began to find his footing with some decent runs and Wolfe had a feeble effort on goal as both teams went into the half with T&T enjoying the better of the closing five minutes.
Two minutes into the second half, Wolfe tried to meet a left side cross but handled through the goalie Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi.
The small T&T contingent's chants of Warriors...Warriors could be heard behind the southern goal and they thought there was something to cheer when Gray's inswinging free kick was claimed by the goalie before Keyeno Thomas could connect. A minute later, following a good stop by Williams, T&T broke but Wolfe's effort was deflected through to Kawaguchi. At that stage, it was evident that the game was being played at a quicker pace and T&T didn't disappoint as they stuck in there with their tackles and tracking and began enjoying better possession than the first half. A drizzle also dampened the surface a bit and eased some of the easier humidity and with that, the T&T outfit began to enjoy the better run.
Kerry Baptiste replaced David in the 71st minute and played one inside the Glasgow who in turn found Wise out on the left top of the box but his left footed effort flew inches over the cross bar as the closing 20 minutes approached.
Glasgow also managed some trickery on the edge of the box, beating two defenders but his service couldn't be bettered by substitute Kendall Jagdeosingh nor Wise. Later on Thomas had to be replaced by Ian Gray, going off with a dislocated elbow.
The final whistle came, bringing an end to Rijsbergen's first game in charge and certainly leaving him with some food for thought ahead of his future outings. Jagdeosingh (20 years), Pacheco (21), David (27), Williams (21), and Leon (22) were among the new faces taking the pitch on the evening.
Line-Up.
Trinidad & Tobago[/b]
Jan Michael Williams, Atiba Charles, Keyeno Thomas (Ian Gray 79th), Avery John, Clyde Leon, Cyd Gray (capt), Stephan David (Kerry Baptiste 71st), Evans Wise, Trent Noel, Anthony Wolfe (Kendall Jagdeosingh 76th), Gary Glasgow (Andre Pacheco 90th).
Japan
Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, Keisuke Tsuboi (Kurihara 60th), Tulio Tanaka, Alessandro "Alex" Santos, Yuichi Komano, Tatsuya Tanaka, Keita Suzuki, Koji Yamase (Daigo Kobayashi 55th), Hayuma Tanaka, Makoto Hasebe (Naoshi Nakamura 73rd), (Daisuke Sakata 85th), Kazuki Ganaha (Hisato Sato).
More matches will aid the development “ Rijsbergen.
By: Shaun Fuentes.[/size]
National team head coach Wim Rijsbergen may have identified a few new faces that he can develop for future first team selections as this country looks ahead to upcoming CONCACAF Gold Cup and 2010 World Cup challenges as this country came off a 2-0 defeat to Japan in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Rijsbergen, in his first game at the helm, saw a T&T outfit, minus more than half of his regular players who featured in the 2006 World Cup, hold its own for an entire second half despite having conceded two early goals.
And the Dutchman has already signaled his intentions to continue working with the home-based pros.
Speaking after the defeat, he admitted that there was much work to be done to bring the team up to competitive standard at the world level but felt there were some positive signs.
You saw that they played a better second half than the first and obviously that is something positive that we can build on. We came here with several players from the Pro League and we knew it would be difficult because the Japanese League is older and is played at a higher level than the T&T competition. But we have some good players and we will now try to work with them, Rijsbergen told TTFF Media.
“I want to congratulate Mr Osim and his team because it was a good result for them. For our players, it was a very good opportunity to see football on an international level. We had a better second half and we tried to play football and they will bring them back to their local clubs.
When asked what were his instructions at the break, he replied "It took a long while for our guys to adjust to the good midfield movement of the Japan team. The speed of these guys and movement in between players is a little bit higher than ours. I told them that if they couldn't keep up with the pace at least they had to communicate more and work harder and that paid off for us to some extent in the second half. Now we will hope to practice that a bit more in our game.
If we continue to play against these kind of teams it will be a big help for us and that's the reality of the game, Rijsbergen added.
The team, with Evans Wise returning to Germany and Avery John back to America, will arrive home in two groups on Thursday and Friday and will now look ahead to the next international friendly against Mexico in Port of Spain on September 2 which falls on a FIFA date and will mean that some of this country's World Cup players will be available for selection. The focus switches next week to the T&T Under 16s who will contest the CFU Under 16 Youth Cup which is the first leg of qualification for Korea FIFA Under 17 World Championship 2007.
News from the 08th of August 2006.
T&T meets Japan in first ever outing.
By: Shaun Fuentes.[/size]
National Team head coach Wim Rijsbergen has predicted Wednesday encounter between the Soca Warriors and Japan to be an open one as both nations show off several new faces in the Kirin Challenge Cup 2006 fixture before some 55,000 fans at the Tokyo National Stadium in from 7:20 pm (6:20 am T&T Time).
Skipper Cyd Gray and his men will be taking the pitch in front of what is expected to be a partisan crowd dominated by the home fans as they get a chance to see new coach Ivica Osim take charge for the first time. But the Soca Warriors will not be made to feel like total strangers as a contingent of at least 100 fans dressed in T&T colours will be in the stands. The sounds of this country will also be heard as a Japan-based 30-member steelband will be in the stands through the efforts of Yoichi Watanabe, a broadcast engineer who is a regular at Trinidad Carnival. The band features several pannists who have visited T&T to play in local bands at Panorama. The voice of local songstress Sharlene Boodram will also be in the air as she is carded to sing the national anthem before kick off.
FIFA Vice President Jack Warner is also a special guest of the Japan FA whose president Saburo Kawabuchi expressed high interest in seeing T&T play in his country.
With the fierce rivalry in the global football scene steadily redefining the power map for the world’s most popular sport, the Japan squad has much to gain from the opportunity to play Trinidad and Tobago, a rising star in the CONCACAF, said Kawabuchi.
And Warner echoed similar sentiments adding: The game is significant in many ways as it marks the first meeting between the two countries at this level and with two new coaches looking to groom their teams for South African 2010. When the opportunity was presented for this match, we had to take it because now the world is aware of what T&T can offer and we will show them that it's no joke what happened in Germany. I don't expect it will be easy for our boys because for some of them it's a new stage but we have shown our capabilities and this is another chance to demonstrate our ability and get things rolling for life after Germany."
With Rijsbergen seeming anxious to see what some of his new picks will deliver, experienced duo Avery John and Evans Wise, both members of the 2006 World Cup team, are a bit cautious but has no qualms over facing the 2002 World Cup hosts in their backyard. Some of the new faces lining up alongside him include left sided midfielder Andre Pacheco of W Connection, nippy middle man Stephan David of Caledonia AIA and teammate Kendall Jagdeosingh while Ian Gray, Trent Noel, goalie Marvin Phillip and Clyde Leon are relative newcomers to the senior team.
We have looked alright in the short time. Some of the players are young and experience but they have the talent. In some more time, we will get things on a better note. We are looking good for the future because the ones I have seen on this trip look like they can handle it, Wise told TTFF Media after the final training session at the training pitch of the Saitama World Cup Stadium on Tuesday morning.
Still based in Germany with Waldhof Mannheim, Wise expects that the players of the 2006 World Cup outfit will be able to lead the rest by example. And pertaining to Wednesday's game, he was referring to none other than Anthony Wolfe, Atiba Charles, John and Gray.
“I hope that some of the stuff that we brought to the team over the last couple days is quickly absorbed by the younger ones. I think they will be confident now knowing they are representing a World Cup team, Wise added.
John meantime, hasn't played for New England Revolution in their past couple outings but he is still confident of putting on a good show. The question lies as to how good T&T can stand up to the quick running Japanese who will be with four of their World Cup players.
It's difficult to say because I haven't played with a lot of them here and we haven’t had much time together. But this is where it starts and what a big game to do it. I think this is what we need to do in sense of mixing the team and for the experienced ones to help them in terms of what is needed at this level The game itself will be hard and mentally we need to be strong and we need to keep ourselves in the game. The talent has never been a downfall for us and games like this will only help to nurture it, John stated.
Gray meantime told the Japanese media: We have a young team but we will give them a run for their money and certainly Rijsbergen will be hoping he and his fellow warriors can walk the talk on Japanese soil.
It appears as though W Connection's Jan Michael Williams will start in goal with the likes of Kerry Baptiste, Clyde Leon, Anthony Wolfe, Gary Glasgow, Charles, John, Gray, Noel, David and Wise could be the starters for T&T.
Gray to lead T&T in Kirin Cup fixture vs Japan.
By: Shaun Fuentes.[/size]
In the absence of one Tobago-born player, another one from the sister isle- defender Cyd Gray will captain this country's National senior team in a friendly international Kirin 2006 Challenge Cup fixture against Japan at the National Stadium, Tokyo on Wednesday.
T&T head coach Wim Rijsbergen gave the armband to Gray on Monday evening as the team went into its second day in Tokyo and trained at the match venue for one hour ahead of Wednesday's encounter which will be played before a sold out venue of 55,000 fans and kicks off at 7:20pm (6:20am TT time).
The T&T team, minus captain Dwight Yorke and midfielder Aurtis Whitley, had its first outfield training session under humid conditions on Monday morning after arriving the previous day and checking in at the Rihga Royal Hotel in Tokyo. They then had a light stretch within the compound in the evening following some twenty one hours flying time via London.
Rijsbergen will also go into the game with 17 players after an MRI scan on Yorke back at Sydney FC revealed that he suffered a slight stain in his left groin tendon and has been advised to rest for a few days. He is expected to visit a groin specialist this week. Whitley meantime also withdrew from the trip last minute due to personal family commitments and his place has been taken by Jabloteh's Kerry Baptiste.
Yorke, who had committed to joining the young team last month following the invitation from Rijsbergen, was disappointed with not making the trip, particularly as it would be the first outing for the Soca Warriors following their World Cup showing.
“We are happy to be here to play this game. We are bringing just the players from the local league because it's not a official FIFA date and it's a good opportunity for the local players to show their qualities. We have some players with the World Cup experience as well here with us and we will use them in the best possible way, Rijsbergen told TTFF Media on Monday evening.
They want to show that they deserve every minute of it and that what happened in Germany was no lucky show for us.
All over the world it's the same. They enjoy playing and they try to create and the football may have a lot of risks. And that's the part we took off when we were trying to get to the World Cup and playing there. But we have to respect the nature of their game but we have to put it together in the best way to be successful in World Cup level. But we also do not want to take away from the creative side from some of our players. Football is a team sport and we balanced both and that will be the future of our game as well. Let's enjoy the game and hopefully we can continue working on it together and play our best football, added the Dutchman when asked to comment on the team's style of play.
It's almost the same with Osim and the Japan team because they also have a lot of new faces from their League here and like us they will be trying to expose them to the international game. I don't know too much about their team but I have seen them before and we know their style just like they will know us. I expect it to be an open game and we will go for it once the whistle goes, Rijsbergen noted.
Gray, a former Joe Public and Roxborough Composite player, has made 41 appearances for T&T since his debut in a friendly against Guatemala at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in 2001. And though at one time coming in for criticism for his performances in the qualifiers that season, he has matured and performed creditably in the first two World Cup matches in Germany before injury forced him out of the Paraguay match.
“I feel very honoured to be able to lead a national team in a game against Japan. It's a young team and it will be a tough task for us but that's what football is about and I expect that we will be eager to do well. The big crowd will not be a problem for some of us and we will try our best to ensure the rest of the new guys settle in as well, Gray told TTFF Media.
Some of the regular faces in the squad to face Japan include Joe Public's Gary Glasgow, Jabloteh defender Keyeno Thomas as well as Atiba Charles, Anthony Wolfe, Evans Wise with defender Ian Gray, Baptiste, Trent Noel, goalie Jan Michael Williams and Glenton Wolfe all having had stints before. The newcomers such as goalkeeper Marvin Phillips, a former national Under 17 member and Stephan David, Andre Pacheco and Kendall Jagdeosingh will be the new kids on the scene.
Arriving on Tuesday to witness the game will be FIFA Vice President Jack Warner while local songstress Sharlene Boodram, whose agent is from here, is carded to sing the T&T anthem before kickoff.
