Birchall and Avery cleared to face US
BY NIGEL SIMON
T&T senior football team got some positive news one day after the
disappointing exit from the 2005 Concacaf Gold Cup.
Contrary to previous reports, both Christopher Birchall and Avery John will
be available for the World Cup qualifier against USA on August 17, despite
receiving double cautions in the Gold Cup.
It was earlier thought that the yellow cards would have meant automatic
dismissals for T&T's next international game since the Warriors were booted
out of the tournament. However, Ted Howard, deputy general secretary of
Concacaf informed the T&T camp on Wednesday that the rule only applies to
players who received a red card and were unable to serve the suspension in
the Gold Cup.
T&T coach, Dutchman Leo Beenhakker and the rest of the local contingent
were scheduled to leave
Miami yesterday for a three-hour flight to Port-of-Spain while goalkeeper
Kelvin Jack and Birchall headed for London.
The pair were highlighted in Fox Sports World's "Play of the Day" and "Goal
of the Week" ratings respectively.
Beenhakker didn't shy away from expressing his disappointment. He made it
clear the focus would be on getting the Warriors sharpened for the
Americans. "It's down to us and how much we really want to achieve this
goal of getting to the World Cup. The next job is preparing for the match
against the USA in a month's time."
The Dutchman said he would have had a chance to see the team's short
comings in the Gold Cup.
"We will work on it and move on. We must be able to get it right as a team
again and not just do relatively good but good enough to get results."
Team captain, Stern John who endured a miserable performance in the three
matches said: "We made a mess of ourselves and I know all the guys agree it
was like watching an amateur team play even though we know we are all
professionals and capable of putting in a professional performance."
"It's the third Gold Cup I have been to and then have to go home after the
first round. It's a worse feeling when you see that the other teams aren't
better than us. It really was a case where we beat ourselves.
"This can only be a positive for us because we played two good games
against Panama and Mexico and then the expectations went high up. This Gold
Cup performance has brought us back down to earth and made us realise that
we have to be more consistent and work harder in all departments of the game."
