‘Warriors’ aim to put points on the board.
By: Shaun Fuentes, TTFF Press Officer in Guatemala City.
With eight games to go after this one, the “Warriors” need to get into the norm of picking points up. That’s what head coach Bertille St Clair has ordered from his players when they take on Guatemala at the Mateo Flores Stadium in Guatemala City from 8pm local time (10pm T&T time) on Saturday.
With Trinidad and Tobago’s next outing at home to Costa Rica on Wednesday, the pressure could slowly mount if the “Warriors” were to come away with nothing to show from Saturday’s affair and the T&T faithful will be looking on with keen eyes from this weekend.
The T&T 18-man squad arrived in Guatemala at 7:30pm on Thursday night and were quickly escorted to the Grand Tikal Hotel after a few fans grabbed the opportunity to get their shirts signed and pictures taken, with Dwight Yorke notably being the most popular with the home fans.
The conditions here have been slightly chilly and the team was expected to get a good feel of the surface at a training session carded for around game time on Friday night.
Most of the morning period following a 9am breakfast was spent reviewing the Guatemalan team on video and holding discussions around the game itself, mindful of the fact that the Guatemalans would be under pressure not to lose any points at home having drawn their previous qualifier with Panama.
But the home side will remember their 4-1 win over T&T at the same venue in a friendly last August. T&T lost defender Marlon Rojas to a yellow card inside the opening 15 and after losing Angus Eve to injury in the pre-match warm up, also lost Arnold Dwarika, Gary Glasgow, Cornell Glen and Derek Phillips to injuries during the encounter. This time around, goalkeeper Shaka Hislop, Brent Sancho, Carlos Edwards, Dennis Lawrence, Silvio Spann, Leslie Fitzpatrick, Stern John, Hector Sam, Dwight Yorke and Clayton Ince are all in the T&T squad which should pose a different and hopefully tougher opposition for the Guatemalans.
In other matches between the two nations, T&T won 3-1 at home in a build up to their 2002 qualifier away to Costa Rica and won 4-2 in the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup first round. In past World Cup action, T&T won 2-1 at home and 1-0 at the Mateo Flores Stadium with Philbert Jones and Kerry Jamerson (2) being the scorers during the 1990 campaign. In the 1998 qualifiers, T&T drew 1-1 at home with Jerren Nixon on the mark and then lost 2-1 in the return with Angus Eve netting the lone item.
But St Clair is not thinking about past performance and results whether at home or away.
“Playing away from home is difficult but I always believe that it’s a mindset and it can only be a problem if you think about it that way,” St Clair told TTFF Media on the eve of the match.
“Football is a level playing field and I am quietly confident that we can get a result once we play to our ability and plan. The best way to defend is to go out and attack and I think we need to put some pressure on the home team from the first whistle and exploit their weaknesses,” he added.
Remembering the Rojas sending off as well as mindful of possible yellow card suspensions for future games, St Clair said he hoped that being cautious will not affect T&T’s game.
“Everything is in the hands of the referee so we have to try our best to play to the rules but that must not affect our aggression.
“The team has changed since the last game as we have more experience this time but the same would occur with Guatemala. Hopefully we have prepared well and the evening will end in our favour. You go into every game aiming for three points,” St Clair concluded.
Wrexham striker Hector Sam has not played since scoring the equalizer in the 2-1 win over St Vincent and the Grenadines last November which could leave St Clair starting with Kenwyne Jones up front with John again while Yorke and Edwards will be the trumps in the middle of the pitch with Fitzpatrick and Spann supporting not to forget Eve. Workhorse Marvin Andrews is out through injury which means that Sancho will need to pull all his weight in the back alongside Lawrence, Rojas, Thomas and Nigel Henry in the wait.
“I am positive about us giving a good showing considering too that this is our first game of the round away from home,” said Hislop, who is expected to wear the armband. “It’s important that we settle in quickly and take the game to them rather than sit back and allow them to control. We expect that the atmosphere will be a hostile one but it’s not a first time for us. A good result is certainly beyond us in this one,” added the Portsmouth man.
Guatemalan MLS striker Carlos Ruiz is their biggest threat and head coach Ramon Maradiaga expects his team will get the job done.
“I don’t expect that the game will be an easy one but we will want to make it as difficult for them as well and take advantage of being at home. We know they are capable of good football but we will try to take care of that,” Maradiaga uttered.
American referee Kevin Stott will take charge of proceedings which will be witnessed by CONCACAF President Jack Warner who flew into Guatemala on Friday with his entourage.
News from the 25th of March 2005.
St Clair: We’ll be prepared for whatever comes our way.
By: Shaun Fuentes, TTFF Press Officer in Ft Lauderdale.[/size]
Veteran midfielder Angus Eve continued his scoring form for Trinidad and Tobago’ senior team when his 41st minute rocket shot turned out to be the winning item for the “Warriors” in their 2-1 victory over Atlanta Silverbacks at the Sunrise Hilton training pitch on Tuesday.
In what was the final tune up before Satirday’s 2006 World Cup qualifier away to Guatemala, coach Bertille St Clair saw his men turn in a solid performance against a team that never really posed problems as goalkeepers Shaka Hislop and Clayton Ince got a half each with not very much to do between the uprights.
Overall though, the exercise may have been just what the team wanted at this stage, a chance to get together in a game situation.
The Silverbacks, team of midfielder Leslie “Tiger” Fitzpatrick seemed intent on giving the visitors a tough run but they never really matched up and were lucky not to have gone behind in the 22nd minute when Anton Pierre’s drive from the top edge of the penalty box went just wide of the upright.
With nothing to show on the scoresheet, Eve then stepped up. A ball played into Stern John by midfielder Dwight Yorke on the edge of the box led to Eve collecting wide on the right and having sufficient time to rifle home a right footer through the stranded Silverbacks goalie on 34 minutes.
Stoke City’s Kenwyne Jones started up front with John but he had to be replaced in the 24th minute after receiving a knock to the knee. His replacement, Nigel Pierre, didn’t take long to make the 100 odd T&T fans present aware of his presence. Carlos Edwards swung one over from the right and Pierre, all alone, went up and perfectly headed into the right corner for a 2-0 advantage going into the break. Moments before the break though, Fitzpatrick won the ball atop the box and found Yorke whose well struck low shot was saved by the ‘keeper.
The second half saw St Clair change his team around with Silvio Spann replacing Edwards. Keyeno Thomas for Eve, while Rojas, an earlier substitute, came back on for Eve. With 20 minutes to go Silverbacks midfielder and former Honduran National team star, Alex Pineda-Chacon brought them back into the game when he scored one.
The other defenders Anton Pierre, Brent Sancho, Nigel Henry played the full 90 as did John and Yorke. Wrexham’s Dennis Lawrence and Hector Sam received at the Sunrise shortly after the outing.
Miami-based forward Jason Nelson, from Tobago, also got a few minutes in place of Pierre (N) near the end. Nakhid got 17 minutes of the pitch in place of Atiba Charles and showed glimpses of his ability in the middle, making runs at the defense and threading the ball around but to little avail at that stage.
“I think overall the match was a good one for us because the guys looked more assertive and comfortable as a team,” St Clair told TTFF Media. “It allowed us to see how the players would perform in the positions that we will like to be in and all in all, it was not a bad showing. We were clean in defense and things didn’t look badly in the middle of the park but we know that it will be a different ball game in Guatemala and at this stage we will be prepared for what is to come at us,” St Clair added. The team spent much of Wednesday relaxing and will return to the training ground on Thursday morning before departing for Guatemala ahead of Saturday's encounter.
Despite the outcome for Silverbacks, Head Coach David Vaudreuil was extremely pleased with his squad's efforts against a T&T squad that featured Dwight Yorke, Stern John and Shaka Hislop, he commented, "Given that we're missing several of our regular season starters, and one of those was playing for the other team, we played much better than I expected. I'm pleased with our progress in such a short period of time."
Line-Up:
Shaka Hislop (Clayton Ince 46th), Anton Pierre, Brent Sancho, Nigel Henry, David Atiba Charles (David Nakhid 73rd), Carlos Edwards (Silvio Spann), Leslie Fitzpatrick (Marlon Rojas), Dwight Yorke, Angus Eve (capt) (Keyeno Thomas), Kenwyne Jones (Nigel Pierre 24th) (Jason Nelson), Stern John.
'Warriors' respond well to Sunrise call.
By: Shaun Fuentes, TTFF Press Officer in Ft Lauderdale.[/size]
The absence of experienced Glasgow Rangers defender MArvin Andrews from Saturday's World Cup qualifier against Guatemala should not be a major worry for this country's senior footballers.
This is the opinion of head coach Bertille St Clair after he received confirmation of Andrews' knee injury on Tuesday as he took charge of the "Warriors" in their Fort Lauderdale training camp ahead of the second match of the final qualifying round. It's not certain whether the big defender will also miss the March 30 match against Costa Rica at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain.
Added to Andrews' missing in action status, English-born stopper Ian Cox also turned unavailable after suffering a hamstring pull on the weekend which resulted in a late call for Wrexham defender Dennis Lawrence who last appeared against Mexico last year and was unforgettably a regular member of the 2002 World Cup squad.
"Marvin has grown into becoming one of the more important players in the team and is now one of the recognised defenders in Scotland but I don't think his absence will have any major effect on the team," St Clair told TTFF Media on Tuesday. "Of course, there's always a concern when you are missing a key player, especially in defense, but we have guys who can step up to the call and this simply means that one of the other guys will now get a chance to take up that responsibility."
Over the past two days St Clair has focused on getting the players reacquainted with each other and the spirit on and off the pitch has been a lively one at the Sunrise Hilton. Training each day from 9am and then at 4pm along with the excellent facilities at the LA Fitness Center being part of the all-access package has been the story for the "Warriors".
"It's always important to ensure that the guys are comfortable together when you are preparing for a game and this goes on to have a positive effect on what takes place on the pitch. So far I think things have gone well and we should be able to get on even better as the match date gets closer," a focused looking Dwight Yorke said shortly before the training match with the Atlanta Silverbacks on Tuesday afternoon.
Some followers of the team from home and even those who have showed up at the team base in Ft Lauderdale questioned whether the overseas-based pros would actually report to camp on time and those here have seen the committment for themselves which has left St Clair a pleased team boss.
"I always advocate that if you are going to represent Trinidad and Tobago, then you have to do the things that the country deserves from you. As the coach I have stressed the importance of this and we have observed that each of the guys who have come on board have adapted quickly and have been doing the right things. Rules are made to be followed and you tend to gain once you follow it correctly," St Clair stressed.
"We are doing as much on the field to try and gel as a unit and we are working on getting as mentally prepared as we can for this game in Guatemala which is our forst match of the round away from our Stadium," he ended.