Connection ready...Fevrier in cautious approach
Tuesday, 27 February 2007
Joel Villafana...Reporting live from Guadalajara Mexico www.ttproleague.comGUADALAJARA, MEXICO: All is set and ready. Vibe CT 105 W Connection are getting ready to play what is arguably the biggest game in their club's history when they face Chivas of Guadalajara on Wednesday night at the Jalisco Stadium in Guadalajara in a CONCACAF Champions Cup Quarterfinal second leg match.
Much to the surprise of many football fans throughout the CONCACAF region the "Savonetta Boys" will go into this all important clash holding a one goal advantage, after their shocking 2-1 win over Chivas at home at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella Trinidad.
Wednesday's second leg tie will kick off at 9 p.m. (Mexico time), 11 p.m. (T&T time) at the Jalisco stadium in Guadalajara.
The boys from Couva arrived in Mexico seven days ago and according to the team's manager Raymond Mc Lean this was an important decision by the club's management.
"The guys have all settled in well, the senior players have all been here before and have helped the younger guys settle in over the last week or so. It was very important for us to be here and acclimatize to the conditions here and we will be ready for the game."
The team is staying at the Primavera Hotel and Sports Club located on the outskirts of Guadalajara, which is some 45 minutes away from the Jalisco stadium.
The facility is a top notch one resting on over 500 acres of land, it comprises of hotel accommodation, at least three football training fields, along with a number of other training facilities including an Olympic size pool.
The TT Pro League "Manager of the Year" told ttproleague.com everyone on the squad is very focused on the job at hand, "It is a very important game for not only W Connection, but important for the country, and for professional football in Trinidad, so we will be going all out to get to the semi-final of the tournament."
As to whether overconfidence will step in to the ranks, Mc clean said, "The Technical Director has been instilling in the boys that there is no room for overconfidence, because Chivas is the top club in Mexico, we cannot take them lightly and they will be coming out to defeat us after we surprised them back home, so I believe the team will be confident, but will not get carried away come game night."
"This is the biggest game in W Connection's history," continued Mc Clean, "When I first came to the club, the President David John Williams said his dream was to see the club in a CONCACAF Club Championship final, and this is a stepping stone towards that, so the match tomorrow is very important as a semi-final place is up for grabs."
Meanwhile Technical Director Stuart Charles Fevrier told us the team has settled in well and everyone is ready for the match, but expressed some disappointment with not having two of his key players here in time to prepare with the team.
"We have settled in well, we have been here close to 8 days we have been doing night sessions, as we prepare for the time the game will be played," said the St. Lucian born coach, "Our only problem is that Ronaldo Viana and Christian Viveros were denied Mexican visas for no real apparent reason and that was a disappointment for us as they were not able to prepare with us."
Viana, a Brazilian midfielder did not feature in W Connection's first leg victory over Chivas at home because he was on a trial with a South Korean club in Brazil, however, Colombian born Viveros played a crucial role in midfield and now may not start the game.
"We are hoping they come in tonight, and if they do we will include them in the squad, and put them on the bench, the good thing is that while in Colombia they were training with a Colombian club team, said Fevrier.
He admitted this has affected the plan somewhat, "Viveros has been a starter in the defensive midfield, and we will miss him, but all our players are very much capable, I have confidence in all my players and I will be replacing him with Kern Cupid and I am backing Kern to come in and do the job."
As regard the game plan, the 2006 Caribbean Club Championship winning coach says, "I don't think we can come here and play an open game, Chivas are a much more experienced team and that is the fact and they are at home, so we will have to play a counter-attacking game."
"We have a 1-0 advantage and our main aim is to preserve that advantage, so our top priority is defence, because if we can maintain our advantage then we are assured we will be through to the next round, and that's our objective."
Coach Fevrier is proud of his charges thus far, but admits a lot of work still needs to be done for Caribbean teams to compete consistently at this level.
He claims, "We (W Connection) have always given a good account of ourselves at the CONCACAF level, we still feel we have a lot of work to do to be consistent at this level, so this is why this gave is so important to us, because we have a lot of young players in this present squad that have come through our youth system and we want to prove to ourselves, to the country and all the detractors that we are capable of playing at this level and doing well.
He concluded, "This is a responsibility that we take very seriously, we want to show the rest of clubs in the Pro League that we can all compete at this level and achieve success."
