Stern century against Panama, but T&TFF row continues.
By: Lasana Liburd (Trinidad Express).
Trinidad and Tobago national record goal-scorer Stern John seems set to make his 100th appearance in the red, black and white strip this evening as the "Soca Warriors" face Panama from 6.30 p.m. at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
The Panamanians, who defeated El Salvador 1-0 on Saturday, should provide a tougher test for the local team who romped to an easy 5-0 win over St Vincent on the weekend. However, the Warriors have history on their side.
Trinidad and Tobago are undefeated against Panama in their past five outings dating back to a 6-0 win at the Queen's Park Oval on August 16, 2000. The Warriors did not concede a goal in any of those fixtures and managed to score nine items from their three home matches.
John, who scored in both legs against Panama in the 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign, would hope to add to his 67 international goals. He took some time to ponder his 11-year career in national senior team colours yesterday.
"Definitely it's a big occasion for me," John told Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (T&TFF) media officer Shaun Fuentes. "And I have to thank the guys who play alongside me for making this possible as well since my debut for the country."
The mood within the national camp remains tense, though, as the stand-off between players and administrators rumbles on.
Last Friday, 13 members of the present squad announced their intention to retire from the game after an alleged breach of contract by the T&TFF.
The Federation countered by referring to the players as delinquent and dishonourable and, yesterday afternoon, they threw in discourteous too as general secretary Richard Groden claimed that the aggrieved Warriors failed to attend two scheduled meetings with the T&TFF.
Groden said Dennis Lawrence and John-the only player representatives available in the absence of team captain Dwight Yorke, Shaka Hislop, Kelvin Jack and Brent Sancho-were asked to meet with the T&TFF on Monday and yesterday but did not turn up or even contact the Federation.
"This inexplicable unwillingness to meet with us on an issue publicly raised by you puts the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation in a rather invidious position," stated Groden, in a letter copied to the press, "since your media exposure last Friday makes us out as the villain and, after repeated requests to resolve the matter around the table, you are yet to show up or communicate a reason for your absence."
The players denied they received an official invitation to meet with Groden but revealed they would meet the T&TFF general secretary at 10 a.m. today.
The meeting will be another compromise by the Warriors who initially voiced a preference to speak to FIFA vice-president and T&TFF special adviser Jack Warner.
One senior player, who spoke on condition of anonymity, explained that Warner should be present since it was he who agreed to the 2006 World Cup contract with the players. However, Warner has attempted to distance himself from the episode at this stage.
The players and T&TFF confirm that the contract drawn up by Warner, last November, offered the players half of revenue earned from the World Cup campaign but differ as to whether this was before or after deductions.
The players also questioned the integrity of the unaudited statement of income and expenditure presented by the T&TFF, which led to them being offered just $5,644.08 each.
National coach Wim Rijsbergen, who sees the rift as a disruption to his own plans, hopes the squad is focused on this evening's match.
"It is important that we keep focused because Panama will not be an easy game," said the former Dutch international. "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 is likely to keep the nucleus of his starting team from Saturday's win over St Vincent, although he should replace the absent Yorke with CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh captain Kerry Baptiste.
Yorke left Trinidad on Monday to return to his England Championship Division club, Sunderland.
It would be only Baptiste's third start for his country although he has already earned 12 caps. He notched his first goal on Saturday with a composed finish following a brilliant John cross.
John, who scored twice himself against St Vincent, insisted that the team would continue to do its best despite the friction with the local administrators.
"Even though there is this matter up in the air at the moment," said John, "I feel that I can focus on the game and hopefully we can pull off another win over Panama."
