HAVING qualified for the semifinals of the Digicel Caribbean Cup Finals as winners of the Sedley Joseph group, the T&T Soca Warriors now have their eyes set on claiming a ninth Caribbean Football Union title.
Following their 3-1 win over Haiti on Wednesday night, man-of-the-man Kerwyn Jemmott said he was happy with his achievement but it was still early days in the competition.
We have a tournament to win and a Gold Cup to play so there is still a lot of football to come.”
Coach Wim Rijsbergen conceded that Haiti’s decision to rest some of their top players may have given the Warriors the advantage.
They rested some of their top players and this was to our benefit. In the first half, we had some good possibilities to score and take this game away, but we failed to put away our chances.” Rijsbergen said.
Before they can set their minds on participating in the Gold Cup, Rijsbergen said there was still some rough spots to be ironed out.
“Physically a lot of guys were tired and that is not unusual with three games in a very short period.
In the end we were a happy with a win and luckily there were no major injuries. We have a couple of days during which everyone can recover from the three games and be fit for the semifinals.”
Dwayne Jack’s introduction was a talking point and Rijsbergen said his height was responsible for his being put on the field.
It had to do with their changes. They have some tall guys and generally we don’t have a lot of players with height in our team.”
Rijsbergen also responded to a question about the team’s vulnerability at the back. “I hear this every time in this country. If we win 5-1 then there is a still a lot of work to do. If we pick some guys then we pick the wrong guys so I don’t always listen to anyone anymore.
We have a strategy and we try to do whatever we have to do. We have all the experts sitting on the other side. “We try to work with the boys and go in one direction. In the end, we will try to find the right mix to face the big opponents and to qualify.
Sometimes as a coach you are lucky that the players do whatever you want them to do. But overall the guys tried very hard and there’s nothing I can say about that. Of course they will make mistakes but that’s part of the game.
I am happy with the guys we picked and in the future we will see some different guys but everyone should be proud of these guys,” Rijsbergen continued.
He said that he would prepare a team comprising most of the same players for a friendly international away to Costa Rica on February 4.
Roberts impresses Dutchman
US-BASED striker Darryl Roberts came in for high praise from Rijsbergen following the three group matches.
Roberts who made his debut last year against Iceland scored in the 5-1 win over Martinique and had a solid outing in the 3-1 win over Haiti on Wednesday night.
Speaking at the post match press conference, Rijsbergen said some of the American based players were used to a system in the US.
Roberts is talented boy but he needs work.
He has speed, he can jump and he’s not afraid to go in.
If you come with this determination we will love to work with that.
So far we won the first stage but we are aiming for the Cup, It’s a part of trying to develop some new players and it is important that you win games but on the way to 2010 we will lose some games and that can be part of the development too.”
Rijsbergen indicated that he gave Kerwyn Jemmot a full match solely to work on his match fitness.
Because if you want to get fit then you have to play 90 minutes. He was struggling a bit in the end but it was good that he has another 90 minutes under his belt.”
Striker Gary Glasgow meantime, when asked how he felt leading the T&T strike force, said he simply gave all heart.
It’s easy really. Just play with my heart and give them 120 percent and the rest will tell the story.
It nice to score goals as scoring only helps as you move on to the next stage. You can use that confidence to go on,” the leading T&T scorer ended
source: de guardian
