John marks his 100th cap.
By Shaun Fuentes (TTFF).
Stern John rates his hattrick of goals in this country’s 4-3 win over Colombia in a friendly in Miami in 1999 as his best performance for the national team over his 99 appearances so far.
The 29-year-old striker completed is a major milestone on Wednesday against Panama at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, marking his 100th appearance in international football. The two goals against St Vincent and the Grenadines last Saturday pushed his tally to 68 goals, the most by any T&T player and John wants to keep on pushing up.
“I definitely would like to bang in a couple more today. I think I have a fairly decent record against Panama because I scored against them in the two qualifying matches, so it would be nice to get another one on the 100th appearance,” John said.
The former Nottingham Forest forward wants to keep on scoring after Panama as well, once he’s given the opportunity in future T&T matches.
He remembers the 4-3 win over Colombia as if it were yesterday but his performances against Guatemala and Mexico and of course the 1-0 win over Bahrain last November 16 are among his most memorable for the country.
“I think definitely the two goals against Guatemala at the stage when we really needed it will stay with me for a long time, not just for the result and where it put us but also because I wasn’t getting too many in the games leading up to it. I needed to come big and I delivered. Then the Mexico game took it to a next level. I didn’t let the pressure get to me. We went out there focused like never before and I kept my head up. Missing the penalty was a nightmare, I felt I could have just buried myself on the spot then but fortunately I was able to keep running. I wasn’t going to let the game get away. Sometimes I still play over the second goal in my head. What a strike that was,” John remembered.
“But overall, I think my most memorable game has to be when we beat Bahrain to qualify for the World Cup. That was unbelievable. As a football, especially as we hadn’t gone to the World Cup before, you don’t get much of those moments. The World Cup was a whole other experience by itself. The 0-0 draw with Sweden is a big part of history for us. Even though I didn’t score, I think that result made the mark for us. Of course, for me, it would have been nice if John Terry didn’t get his boot to that header in the second game but that’s life as a striker. Hopefully I’ll fill that blank in another match to come,” John added. He was presented with a honourary plaque by President George Maxwell Richards before kick off on Wednesday.
Kerry’s coming on
Kerry Baptiste believes he could slowly be forcing his way on to the national team as a regular pick and even maybe a starter in time to come.
This was the reaction of the diminutive CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh player as he scored his first goal for T&T in a 5-0 win over St Vincent and the Grenadines last weekend.
The former National Under 23 player who grew up admiring the likes of Angus Eve and remembers cleaning the boots of Stern John, was delighted with his strike which ironically came from a John left side delivery.
“I just kept focused because I knew the chance would come. I think the experience has been a good one for players like myself. It’s the first time I was able to play with Dwight Yorke and being on the field with the other guys who were part of the World Cup was a big experience. My aim is to really keep at it and see how far I can push myself. The sky is the limit and hopefully with hard work I will be able to hang in there and keep on improving on the international stage,” added the ex-Mucurapo Senior Comprehensive player
Sealy’s hot property
Kansas City Wizards coach Brian Bliss couple weeks ago described striker Scott Sealy has hot property in the American MLS.
The former St Mary’s College player, who played for T&T during the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, is currently one of the club’s trump cards and recalled how he fought his way into recognition after struggling for most of last season and earlier on this time around.
“At the beginning of the season, there was nothing I could do right that would get me in there,” he said. “I think (then-coach) Bob Gansler had his starting lineup in his mind, and it wasn’t going to change. I just continued to train hard and wait for my opportunity,” Sealy said.
His first chance came when Josh Wolff and Eddie Johnson left with the US team for the World Cup and by the time they returned, Sealy was doing his thing well with a series of strikes over the past two months.
“As of late, Scotty’s made the most of his opportunities by putting the ball in the net,” said Bliss. “He deserves to be in there. He’s being rewarded, and his team is being rewarded. “He’s the hot guy right now.”
Marvin hustles through the mud
Raith Rovers manager Craig Levein has hailed new signing Marvin Andrews and thinks the national team defender could bring sunnier times to the club as it attempts to climb out of the Scottish Second Division.
Andrews, fresh out of Carib FC in local leagues, began his Scottish professional career at Raith and now is committed to taking them up again. And Levein is impressed by his actions so far since joining the team from Glasgow Rangers where he earned a much higher income than at present.
“He's an unusual guy, Maybe we should all be a wee bit more like him. Sometimes people here walk about with a little cloud above their head. My job, along with some of the board members and also now Marvin is to chase those rain clouds away. We want to see sunnier times here,” Levein said. “On Monday night he was running round Beveridge Park in the pissing rain, up to his knees in mud and working off the floodlights used by the rugby club," laughed Levein
Andrews knows where his ambitions lie at the moment, adding” I’m back here because God wants me to be here,” he maintained. ““My life is not moved by money and money doesn’t buy you happiness—I’m a footballer and this is the talent that God has blessed me with,"
