T&T U-17s go for better result vs Honduras on Saturday.
By: Shaun Fuentes (TTFF).[/size]
Trinidad and Tobago’s National Under 17 footballers will be hoping to complete their three-match tour of Honduras with a winning result on Saturday when they face that country’s National Under 17 team for the second time in a week after losing their first friendly 3-0 at the National Stadium in Tegucigalpa on Wednesday.
The team, captained by Jesse Fullerton, who started in goal, conceded two first half goals and then a third after the break against the Hondurans who like T&T are preparing to contest the final round of the CONCACAF Under 17 qualifying competition towards the FIFA Under 17 World Championship in Korea. T&T faces Costa Rica, Jamaica, United States and Canada from April 28 – May 6 while Honduras will hosts Mexico, Haiti, El Salvador from April 4-8.
T&T also played a training match on Thursday against the Reserves of Honduras Champion club Motagua, going down 2-0, conceding two second half goals against the hosts who used a team comprising mostly Under 23 players.
On Wednesday, head coach Anton Corneal used as much as 19 players during the match which was played before some 1,000 fans and he later admitted that the Hondurans were more match ready than the junior “Soca Warriors”. Apart from that though, T&T did manage to create quite a few goalscoring opportunities and had only themselves to blame for not converting. They squandered three chances inside the opening twenty minutes with two of those falling for Daniel Joseph and the other to Chad De Freitas. Striker Stephan Knox also had two close tries in the second half but the Hondurans were the ones who made good of their chances with Alfredo Mejia, Johnny Leveron and Freddy Sosa all finding the net in the second half.
Corneal was not too concerned with the losing result.
“It was a very useful exercise for us. I admit that they were more match ready than us because they are at that stage of their preparations where they are getting ready for their competition which starts before us. We are really still in an endurance phase in our program and I cannot change that at this time to force us to be fully match ready because we still have a couple months to go. That is when we want to be as best ready for our qualifying games,” Corneal told TTFF Media from Tegucigalpa.
“We were able to use 19 players in the match and that allowed us to see how well the players are fitting into their positions and carrying out the instructions given to them. Again, we had an abundance of scoring chances that we didn’t make use of and we will work on that which is where these games will be so handy for us. It was the same situation in the second game where we created numerous chances to score but suffered by not making use of them and then conceding against a team that is more match ready than we are,” Corneal added.
The Hondurans were also coming off a 3-3 draw with Costa Ric and Corneal further stated that he was not going to be alarmed at this stage. “We cannot keep up that intensity for two months which is why we are at this stage of our game right now. Our intention is to be at the right level in time for the important matches which obviously will be the qualifiers.”
Saturday’s game will kick off at 6pm TT time at the National Stadium in Tegucigalpa and the team returns home on Monday. They will continue preparations and look ahead to two friendlies at home against Mexico’s National Under 17 team on March 4 and 6.
T&T starting eleven vs Honduras – Jesse Fullerton, Sheldon Bateau, Ryan O’Neil, Robert Primus, Aubrey David, Chike Sullivan, Leston Paul, Chad De Freitas, Michael Lewis, Daniel Joseph, Stephan Knox.
News from the 13th of February 2007.
Dwight is 2006 Player of the Year.
By: Shaun Fuentes (TTFF).
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation today announces Trinidad and Tobago World Cup team captain Dwight Yorke as its “Player of the Year” for 2006 and subsequent nominee for the First Citizens Bank Sports Foundation “Sportsman of the Year” award.
This agreed upon by the TTFF as it was felt that Yorke, leading the “Soca Warriors” to a commendable display at the 2006 World Cup, was the fitting choice with his inspiring contribution despite the stirring performances of some of his other teammates during the 2006 season.
TTFF’s nomination for “Sportswoman of the Year” is National Women’s Team player Ayanna Russell. She was a member of the T&T Senior Women’s Team that progressed to the CONCACAF Gold Cup and final stages of the World Cup qualifying competition where T&T lost 3-0 to Mexico in Miami last November. Russell is also eligible to represent T&T at the Under 20 World qualifiers this year.
Yorke, also named 2005 “Player of the Year” is coming off arguably his most successful year on the international stage. He led from the front, beginning the year with a pair of goals in a 2-0 victory over Iceland in a warm up international in London in February. He subsequently led his troops in further warm up matches leading up to their creditable 0-0 draw with Sweden in their opening World Cup fixture. Yorke was presented with the “Man of the Match” award for his workmanlike performance on that day in Dortmund.
Yorke was later voted the best defensive player of the group stage of the 2006 World Cup.
The former Manchester United forward who was converted into a deep-end midfielder by head coach Leo Beenhakker earned plaudits for his display in the 270 plus minutes of T&T's appearance in Germany.
According to a release from FIFA: There are some wonderful defensive talents on show at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany - with the likes of Roberto Ayala, Alessandro Nesta, John Terry to name but three. But the best defender in the group games was actually a forward player converted to play as a deep-lying midfielder.
"For years Dwight Yorke was renowned for his striking ability and consistent marksmanship. At the FIFA World Cup, used effectively by Trinidad and Tobago in a defensive midfield role, he topped the rankings in terms of successful tackles made."
For his contribution to the national team in the 2006 FIFA World Cup he was made a Sports Ambassador for Trinidad and Tobago.
Yorke, a former record signing for the England Premier League giants and one of football's most popular clubs, was listed 43rd out of Manchester United's top 50 players of all time.
The list was compiled by United for the recently-released Manchester United Opus, which is a limited edition 850-page book on the "Red Devils".
Also in 2006, in March, Yorke played a major role in leading Sydney FC to victory in the inaugural A-League Grand Final against Central Coast Mariners. He set up the only goal, scored by Steve Corica, in front of a sell out crowd of over 41,000 at Aussie Stadium, and was awarded the Joe Marston Medal as best player in the grand final.
Yorke was the "marquee" player for Sydney FC - meaning that his salary fell outside the salary cap. He was also a star name for the A-League as a whole. Aside from his footballing talents, the drawing power and credibility he brought both locally and internationally proved to be beneficial for the competition in its inaugural season, leading the FFA to use his image and name for the promotion of the A-League's second season.
On August 31, 2006, Yorke's transfer to Sunderland was announced. The transfer reunited Yorke with ex-teammate Roy Keane, now manager of Sunderland. Yorke made his debut in the home match against Leicester City, and received a rapturous standing ovation from home fans when he came on as a substitute in the first half. He scored his first goal for Sunderland in the 2-1 loss against Stoke, and has become firmly accepted by the people of Sunderland, switching on the city's Christmas lights in 2006.
News from the 09th of February 2007.
U-17 off to Honduras for warm up tour.
By: Shaun Fuentes (TTFF).
Trinidad and Tobago’s Under 17 footballers are set to go into an extensive preparation program inclusive of international warm up matches as it gets ready to go into final round CONCACAF qualifying action towards the 2007 FIFA Under 17 World Championship in Korea.
This Sunday, the team of 20 players comprising mostly of members of the outfit which finished third in last year’s CFU Under 16 Championship, heads out to Honduras where it will play three matches including one against that country’s national Under 17 team. This however is not the final squad expected to go into the tournament. Some of the names with past experience making this trip include Daniel Joseph, Leston Paul and prolific goalscorer Stephan Knox, Brenton Balbosa and Robert Primus.
Head coach Anton Corneal will accompany the team which has been in training at home since early December. It was also revealed that the T&T team will play two training matches against Mexico at home in the first week of March before a proposed training camp in the United States. This is all being planned by the TTFF as it continues its preparation phases for national teams.
“I think we have the right games in place before the tournament and the fact that it is being played in Jamaica could also be helpful to us in terms of the conditions. With that said, we are now trying to ensure that we prepare against the right type of opposition to ensure that our chances are just as good as any for qualifying for the World Championship,” Corneal told TTFF Media.
“The Federation is working in different areas because we are talking about our next generation of footballers here. And the coaching personnel has tried to work along with the resources available to ensure that we are not left behind,” Corneal added.
The team will train on Friday at the Ato Boldon Stadium before a full day of protocol and etiquette training at the Dr Joao Havelange Centre of Excellence, Macoya on Saturday prior to its departure to Honduras.
T&T goes into Group B action in the qualifying series from April 28-May 6 in Jamaica, taking on Costa Rica in its first match at the National Stadium on April 28. They then face Jamaica on April 30, United States on May 4 and Canada on May 6. From this group, three top three of the five nations will advance to the World Championship while two teams will advance from the other group being contested in Honduras including the hosts, Mexico, Haiti and El Salvador.
News from the 07th of February 2007.
Rijsbergen- a lot more work in store.
By: Shaun Fuentes (TTFF).[/size]
National team captain Densill Theobald and his teammates will be hoping to get bouncing again and attempt to shrug off Sunday’s miserable 4-0 whipping to Costa Rica when they meet Central Americans Chile in another friendly international away on March 25.
T&T head coach Wim Rijsbergen said this would be the team’s next exercise as it continues preparations towards the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup in the USA which kicks off on June 6.
The Dutchman was reacting to Sunday’s heavy loss when he added that hopefully he will have access to some of his overseas-based talent for the upcoming internationals.
“It’s good when players themselves start to realize and talk about the difference in play,” Rijsbergen told TTFF Media.
“You hope it’s not just about playing one game but maybe a change in mentality is what is needed because they need to understand that more work is needed. When they go back to their clubs they must not be pleased too easily and that is what happens in local competition. There you can maybe do it with fifty percent of the energy and get results but you must also train harder with the idea of becoming better players. That is what I am trying to get into the heads of these guys,” Rijsbergen added.
“That is why you need the foreign talent to help them and to raise the level during training and in matches. They have to help in the process.”
“As a coach I want to improve things but the players also have to lift their standard at the local level. When we continue to just play at this level then the players might fool themselves into thinking they are at the top of their game and then when you have to play the other international teams you will see the difference. They will realize the game ask a bit more of them and that is what will happen to Darryl Roberts when he goes to Holland to join his new club but hopefully that will make him a better player when he has to come back and play for the national team and hopefully the same goes for the rest of them.”
“Our next game is March 25 against Chile and we need all the help we can get because Chile is better than Costa Rica. This will not be a fun game and we need the better players to be able to make the current crop make the jump. We will continue the process of looking for other players as well. Myself and Jan (Van Deinsen) will use the Carnival period to look at more players in Europe and also when the local League starts here again.”
Theobald meantime said his players would have hopefully received a wake up call.
“For the first game against Panama maybe the result and the performance wasn’t that bad because we didn’t get our luggage and we had to use some uniform from Panama to train with and so on. But against Costa Rica we were just very hesitant and the game may have gotten to the younger players. We didn’t get into our game and that was disappointing and the coach let us know that he wasn’t happy about that. We didn’t start playing until it was already 4-0.
“But this is definitely an experience the boys can take forward with them whether they are on the national team or not. What it makes them realize is that it takes a lot more out of you at the international level and hopefully we can all grow from it. We just have to get the best team ready to take on the other challenges,” Theobald added.
News from the 05th of February 2007.
Soca Warriors bow heads: T&T outplayed by Costa Rica.
By: Ian Prescott (Express).
"I don't know if a lot of these players can make the next step," stated Trinidad and Tobago head coach Wim Rijsbergen.
"It was not a hard game...this is just the reality. We can see that making the next level will be a very difficult one. I guarantee that if we go with this team to Chile, for instance, it will be a much tougher game than this."
A cold dose of reality was administered on Sunday at the Morera Soto Stadium in Alajuela, Costa Rica, where the Ticos outplayed Trinidad and Tobago's Soca Warriors by a 4-0 margin, matching previous victories in 1998 and 1966. But neither of those outcomes is likely to be as comprehensive. A goal on either side of half-time by Alonso Solis (43rd and 52nd) and one apiece from Harold Wallace (31st) and Rolando Fonseca (57th) did the job for the home team.
That left Rijsbergen wondering which of these players are good enough to keep their place and vowing to continue the search for hidden talent.
At times, Sunday's match looked like a training session as the Costa Ricans ran rings around bewildered T&T players, defeating them with rudimentary one-two combinations, wall passes, or simple body movements.
The Ticos were flying at times, while the Warriors always travelled in slow motion. As Costa Rica played as though on a chess board, every move taking an opponent out of position, the technical inefficiencies of his players was not lost on Rijsbergen, a former World Cup defender with Holland.
"You see how easy people run around and go in the back of some of these players that's their level. We must be careful that guys don't just use us as training partners and then they blow us off the field. That's not what we are looking for," the Dutchman said. "That's why we need to mix these players with ones in England, to make these players better. It is very tough."
The onslaught began within the opening 30 seconds when Costa Rica had the ball in the back of the T&T net from a free-kick. But, although a home player was called offside by referee Ricardo Cerdas, a pattern was set. The Soca Warriors were always chasing shadows and conceding goals from poor defending.
Blame belonged to no one player, not even goalkeeper Jan Michael Williams, although his slippery finger-tips led to the opening goal. His defenders were taken out when Costa Rican striker Fonseca allowed a pass to run, making dummies of Osei Telesford and Nigel Daniel, and allowing overlapping midfielder Wallace to collect the ball behind them in the box. Wallace, who started the play at the half-line, then made an elementary cross into the box, which the keeper tipped into his goal.
Kerry Baptiste also never came to terms with the off-the-ball runs from Ticos left midfielder Leonardo Gonzales, who cut in-field with regularity, leaving the Jabloteh midfielder always struggling to keep up.
Anticipating Fonseca would pass the ball around the back of T&T right back Seon Power, Gonzales again left Baptiste and squared a pass to Solis for an easy second goal from the centre of the penalty area.
Seeing his right flank looking like an open highway, Rijsbergen replaced Baptiste with a fighting Kwame Wiltshire, who did marginally better.
Televison statistics showed the Soca Warriors having a paltry 40 per cent of possession, while they had not a single shot on goal in the first half.
His deceptive flair still made Kerwyn Jemmott one of the few Soca Warriors playing comfortably against the Ticos. He could not match their fitness or work-rate, but because Jemmott could also produce clever flicks and little shimmies, the Costa Rican midfielders approached him carefully.
Captain Densill Theobald also showed his World Cup experience, but once the two T&T central midfielders were not involved, the ball was lost.
Theobald said the game went beyond just the difficulty of playing a good Costa Rican team.
"The result was a disgrace to us. Especially after all the work we put in, and after so much the coach put in. Beside being quick players, they played a faster brand and there was always plenty movement off the ball. We get that from Central American players these days.
"But, life goes on. We will see this as a learning experience and, hopefully, we will be able to move on from this. I hope the boys learn from watching them and playing against them. I hope they can use it to their advantage to work on their own game. Games like these can only help us along the way. Tougher opponents and opponents we can learn from will help us to grow and move from strength to strength," Theobald added.
Assistant national coach Anton Corneal said the reality shows that T&T Pro League football is not getting local players up to international level at the moment, a statement supported wholly by Rijsbergen.
"You see the level these players come from, and the big problem they
have in coming up to the next level," said Rijsbergen. "In the Digicel Cup, we played against teams of the same level, and the next step will be very difficult. It's not just the physical part, it's the speed of the game, that's the physical fitness. There's also the mental part of the game if you want to win.
Yes or no."
Rijsbergen had no choice but to pull off Baptiste, though the Jabloteh midfielder was not the only one fooled by the blind runs. Wiltshire and Daniel allowed Gonzales to ghost between them, then lay off to Solis, who ran in and slapped a low shot past Williams for the third goal.
And later, Daniel failed to pay attention to the player sneaking up behind him and had no answer when Gonzales' teasing cross reached Fonseca at the far post. A neat stab and Costa Rica had a fourth.
Striker Darryl Roberts did better than any of the T&T forwards, getting a free header but turning over Christian Baptiste's cross, then later setting up Theobald for a shot straight at keeper Jose Francisco Poras.
However, bewildered faces and bowed heads told the Soca Warriors' story as they approached the team bus. Roberts' disappointment was no less hidden as he recounted the night's happenings.
"It was tough out there. The Central American teams do a lot of running off the ball. They really killed us with that. We needed to pay attention to holding onto our man tonight and we didn't. Hopefully, we will learn from the experience."
Rijsbergen cautioned that players who want to be part of his CONCACAF Gold Cup and 2010 World Cup squads have to be prepared to do work besides just training with the national team. He said all great players have found ways to improve themselves apart from the rest.
"We will analyse these games and say to each other which of these guys are good enough to make the next level. We will also look for some new players in the US, also in any part of the world and we need to look at the Pro League. If they drop back in the same speed and the same level in the Pro League, they will probably never make the difference," Rijsbergen pointed out, probably hoping deep down that at least one or two of the current squad still prove him wrong.
Final Score
Costa Rica 4 (Harold Wallace 30th, Alonso Solís 44th, 54th, Rolando Fonseca 58th) v T&T 0.
Costa Rica: - 18.José Francisco Porras (1.Wardy Alfaro 71st), 3.Víctor Cordero, 4.Michael Umaña, 2.Jervis Drummond, 15.Harold Wallace (22.Tray Benneth 55th), 12.Leonardo González (17.Félix Montoya 78th), 6.Michael Barrantes, 14.Rodolfo Rodríguez, 10.Walter Centeno (16.Carlos Hernández 60th), 7.Rolando Fonseca (11.Andy Furtado 78th), 9.Alonso Solís (21.Kurt Bernard 58th).
CRC Coach: Hernán Medford.
Trinidad & Tobago: - 1.Jan Michael Williams, 5.Osei Telesford, 2.Dwayne Jack, 16.Seon Power, 17.Nigel Daniel, 14.Kerry Baptiste (8.Kwame Wiltshire 46th), 18.Densill Theobald (capt), 10.Kerwyn Jemmott (9.Scott Sealy 84th), 15.Christian Baptiste (13.Hayden Tinto 81st), 12.Gary Glasgow, 11.Darryl Roberts.
T&T Coach: Wim Rijsbergen.
CRC - TRI
60% possesion 40%
6 shots on goal 1
2 corner 2
4 offsides 1
16 fouls 11
2 yellows 2
0 reds 0
News from the 04th of February 2007.
Costa Rica test tonight.
By: Ian Prescott (Express).
Costa Rica are playing at home for the first time in 15 months, have not won a recognised international match since edging South Korea 1-0 almost a year ago, and have a former player Hernan Medford making his debut as national coach.
The 'Ticos' are desperate for a victory over an inexperienced Trinidad and Tobago team who they face tonight from 7 p.m. (5 p.m. Costa Rica) at the Morera Soto Stadium, Alajuela.
T&T's "Soca Warriors" are themselves coming off a second-place finish at the Digicel Caribbean Cup and an exciting 2-1 defeat to Panama three days ago. T&T have a losing record against Costa Rica: two victories, four draws, 12 defeats and have never won in that Central American country.
Some are thinking the Warriors are hand-picked opponents to give Medford a winning debut, after an international against Jamaica was cancelled in favour of a two-match series between the teams. Costa Rica are due to make a return trip to T&T later in the year.
The T&T party are unconcerned by the political ramifications behind the match, and just want to see continued development and a good showing from the young team, who stepped up their performances in the last match against Panama. "It's still preparation for the CONCACAF Gold Cup and the World Cup campaign," assistant coach Anton Corneal said.
"We are going to take a look at some of the other players. We are not going to change around the team too much, but some of the guys will get a run."
T&T have a few slight injuries, including one to Leslie "Tiger" Fitzpatrick, who was taken off at half time and replaced by Defence Force's Christian Baptiste, after being stretchered off at one point against Panama. Joel Bailey, a substitute against Panama, also picked up knock, but it is unlikely that the injuries are enough to keep either player out the game. Another player likely to see action is Kerwyn Jemmott, who watched the game from the bench against Panama.
"Jemmott was under the weather with the flu bug the last couple days, so we thought it best not to play him against Panama. But, he will most likely will play tonight," Corneal said. "You saw the last time we played Kwame Wiltshire, Marvin Phillip, Kevon Carter, Christian Baptiste and those guys to give them the exposure to international football."
Reflecting on the Panama match, Corneal felt that while it might have been exciting to look at from a fan's perspective, there were nevertheless technical flaws that were exposed in some of the players. Corneal said it was no surprise that Panama presented such a physical presence.
"We thought Panama would have been physical. They were when we played them in Port of Spain last year, but we had a lot of the European-based players, who would have been accustomed to that. It was good for the young players. Many would only have played local club football and were having a taste of Central American football for the first time. They would have learnt a lot."
Touching on Christian Baptiste's controversially disallowed goal, Corneal too admitted that the wide, left angle of the shot made it difficult to determine where the ball passed before entering the net. Had it stood, the Soca Warriors would have taken a 2-1 lead in the 82nd minute, but instead, after the goal was disallowed by the Panamanian referee, Panama scored through Aguilar in the 83rd minute and won the game.
"I really don't know. The ball could have gone through the net, but then they check these things before the match," Corneal said, some doubt still lingering in his voice.
There is some good news for the team in that some players got back luggage which was misplaced in Caracas, Venezuela. But, communication problems have surfaced in Central America, particularly in Costa Rica, where it seems impossible to keep in contact with the rest of the world.
Costa Rican coach Hernan Medford is also having his own problems as his team prepare for the UNCAF tournament which serves as a qualifier for the Gold Cup, to be held in the United States from June 6-24.
Costa Rica are in the Group of Death along with Honduras and Panama, while El Salvador (host), Guatemala, Nicaragua and Belize are in the "soft" group. Medford thinks it's no coincidence that the three regional "powers" are in the same group. And he questioned the draw carried out by the leaders of the Central American body.
"You know how the Uncaf is handled. Those draws are done in a room where there is not nobody. We understand them," he said, suggesting that is was purposefully done to hurt Costa Rica, who meet Panama in their opening game next week.
