Soca Warriors try for another win over Panama.
By Shaun Fuentes (TTFF).
In the midst of all the row talks, Trinidad and Tobago’s senior footballers will attempt to focus on the football again when they take the field against Panama in Wednesday’s friendly international at the Hasely Crawford Stadium from 6:30pm.
With this scheduled to be the last international match on home soil for 2006, the “Soca Warriors” will be hoping to extend their unbeaten run to eleven matches at home dating back to a 4-0 win over Bermuda in May 2005 prior to the 2-0 victory over Panama in 2006 qualifying action. That same match, a man who dictates the country’s scoring exploits netted to help keep T&T’s World Cup hopes alive.
And once he takes the field on Wednesday, Stern John will be marking his 100th appearance for the twin-island Republic.
“Definitely it’s a big occasion for me. And I have to thank the guys who play alongside me for making this possible as well since my debut for the country. Even though there is this matter up in the air at the moment, I feel that I can focus on the game and hopefully we can pull off another win over Panama,” John said.
Head coach Wim Rijsbergen will be in charge for his third game since taking over the post from Leo Beenhakker and rightly wants to keep his troops on a winning note before they even begin to look ahead to the next international carded for November 15 against Panama.
“It is important that we keep focused on the game because Panama will not be an easy game. But we know what we have to do and hopefully the players will concentrate on the game and give the kind of performance that can bring us a good result,” Rijsbergen said.
Chris Birchall is expected to be the main man in midfield in the absence of Dwight Yorke as well as the non-inclusion of World Cup regulars Densill Theobald and Aurtis Whitley from the current squad. Young Kerry Baptiste will be hoping to follow up on his goalscoring performance of last Saturday and enthusiasts will be anxious to see more of Andre Toussaint and Nigel Daniel.
The other overseas-based pros – Dennis Lawrence, Avery John, Jason Scotland, Atiba Charles, Collin Samuel, Kenwyne Jones, Carlos Edwards and John are all injury free and were expected to partake in the Tuesday evening’s session at the match venue.
Panama, as earlier reported, arrived on Monday night following a 1-0 win over El Salvador on Saturday and have brought a relatively decent team as they prepare for the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup which they finished as runners up to the USA last year.
In the opening game of the double header from 4pm, T&T’s National Under 20 team under head coach Brian Williams will meet Barbados’s National Under 20s.
The youth team is preparing for the CFU second round qualification towards the CONCACAF final round. They host St Vincent/Grenadines, Dominican Republic and St Kitts/Nevis in a round robin group contest from October 25.
The 23-man Under 20 squad is:
Goalkeepers - Leston Shade, Adrian Foncette (Fatima College), Kareem Gray (St Benedict’s College).
Defenders - Akeem Parris (Fyzabad Composite), Devon Drayton (W Connection), Corneal Thomas (Superstar Rangers), Radanfah Abu Bakr (Caledonia AIA), Marvin James (unattached), Larry Bacchus (United Petrotrin), Brendon Boucaud (St Anthony’s College).
Midfielders - Jamal Wiggins, Elton John (San Juan Jabloteh), Khaleem Hyland (Mucurapo SC), Hans Pierre (Maple FC), Keon Daniel (Utd Petrotrin), Atulla Guerra (unattached), Dion Peters (Joe Public), Javed Mohammed (Naparima College), Christon Thomas (Superstar Rangers).
Forwards - Aaron Downing (W Connection), Matthew Barthlomew (W Connection), Lester Peltier (San Juan Jabloteh), Carlyle Mitchell (Caledonia AIA), Carlon Hughes (Mayaro United), Stefan DeLas (Birmingham City Academy).
