Carlos could return as Leo finalizes team for US clash.
By: Shaun Fuentes.
Midfielder Carlos Edwards has been coming on well in training over the last few days and may just make a comeback from injury when Luton Town faces Southampton in English Championship Division match on Tuesday.
This gives some hope to National Team head coach Leo Beenhakker on the chances of having Edwards in the squad to face the United States in next Wednesday’s 2006 World Cup qualifier in East Hartford, Connecticut.
Edwards was previously listed as a definitely out of the match after missing the entire 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup campaign and then returning to Luton to realize he was still not able to make his debut in pre-season for them.
But his agent Mike Berry confirmed on Monday that the former Wrexham star has done remarkably well on the weekend and is in the 22-man squad for Tuesday’s League encounter. Striker Stern John meatime, will be in action as Coventry City meet Millwall on the same day.
“Carlos still is not at his best with the injury but he has come on very well over the last couple days and it is now possible that he could be in the Luton squad to face Southampton,” Berry told TTFF Media. “It’s good news for the club and Carlos and hopefully it will turn out to be the same for Trinidad and Tobago.”
Beenhakker is expected to name his squad for the match over the next 48 hours with the team scheduled at the end of the week for Connecticut. One of the latest additions to Beenhakker’s watch list has been US-based pro Scott Sealy. The promising striker scored a winner in the 73rd minute as his Kansas City Wizards overcame Avery John’s New England Revolution 2-1 in the MLS on Saturday night. Sealy played for 77 minutes while John played the full 90 for New England.
“It’s the final week before the match against the United States so obviously we are aiming to get everything together for the five days across there where we will have the final team together. Some of the players are coming off their pre-seasons and have already started their seasons while others are well into their seasons so we can now see how things go from here,” Beenhakker told TTFF Media. “The team has not been together since the Gold Cup due to the fact that the players have been with their clubs but this not something we will use as an excuse. There’s a match for us to play next week and we will go all out for it.”
Also doing well on his debut since returning to West Ham was goalkeeper Shaka Hislop. The big man came off the bench in West Ham’s friendly with Osasuna at Upton Park on Saturday. He replaced first choice goalie Roy Carroll with 15 minutes remaining but then found himself in a penalty shootout in which he made two splendid saves even though his side lost 8-7.
It was a good feeling," Hislop said. "I've been away for a few years, but it was nice to get a good reception from the crowd when I came on. My aim is to make sure I'm at my best in training and if I'm not in the team then to push as hard as I can to get there. That way, even if I don't play a game this season, I'll know that I've done all I can to get a place in the first-team.”
T&T enjoy goal spree win.
By: Shaun Fuentes.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Under 15 footballers finished as one of the top scoring teams in the group phase of the Caribbean Football Union Under 15 Youth Cup when they hammered Anguilla 19-0 in the closing Group E match at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on Sunday.
The hosts moved into Tuesday’s quarter finals where they will meet Suriname who finished 2-0 winners over Bahamas to finish second in Group A. that game is carded for the Marvin Lee Stadium (MLS), Centre of Excellence from 6pm.
Other teams into the quarter finals include Jamaica who came away 21-0 winners over British Virgin Islands at the MLS on Sunday to finish with the most amount of goals in the opening phase. The more superior Jamaican outfit will take on Group D winners Martinique at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on Tuesday from 4pm. Before that, Guatemala will face Netherlands Antilles in the other quarter final game at the MLS from 2pm. Across in Tobago, Group winners Canada will meet Suriname at the Dwight Yorke Stadium from 6pm.
At the HC Stadium, T&T dominated from start to finish and should have had at least ten more goals to their final tally. The Sunday evening fans got a first goal to celebrate in the 6th minute when good positional play and passing saw skipper Sean De Silva (with goalkeeper Jesse Fullerton on the bench), finding Daniel Joseph on the left and he in turn slipped the ball inside for Brandon Rupert to finish off the move. Rupert celebrated the goal with his teammates and he seemed intent on proving his worth after being dropped from the team in Friday’s win over St Kitts/Nevis for disciplinary reasons. Head coach Ken Elie revealed that the player had failed to turn up on time for a team meeting on Thursday and was subsequently put to sit in the stands as his teammates put six past the saints.
In the 11th minute, Rupert was at it again, like a man on a mission, collecting on the right of the box and calmly slotting past goalkeeper Yoann Romney. Then two minutes later De Silva crossed for Stephan Chang to volley into the goal from close range.
It was evident from then that the home lads would come away with a handsome win as Hutson Charles, in charge of the team for this match, looked eager to have his players go for goals on the evening.
On 16 minutes, the young faithful from the St Dominic’s Children’s Home, backed by a couple drummers and using the laptop tables in the media section to add more iron to their singing, were off their seats once again when Rupert made a penetrative run on the right and squared for Daniel Joseph to side foot home.
Two minutes later, it was 5-0 as Joseph turned provider this time for Stephan Knox to take his time and slot home from within the six yard box.
Soon after Knox was fouled in the box but De Silva could only manage to hit send his penalty strike against the upright. It was 6-0 in the 23rd when Knox met a Rupert pass and drilled a low shot into the goal.
Mark Rivers then showed some excellent control on top the box before playing one over for Joseph to finish off for a 7-0 advantage in the 35th minute.
Three minutes later Knox got his hattrick and in the 39th minute Leston Paul joined the fun for an 9-0 lead at the interval.
Franz Husbands was introduced at the start of the second half and he wasted no time in making an impact on the scoreline. He made it 10-0 in the 46th minute and Joseph finished a one on one with the goalie in the 55th. A T&T 11-0 lead at that stage and the Anguillians were now too accustomed with restarting play from the middle.
Rupert’s shot was partially saved by the ‘keeper and Knox ran in to hit in the rebound for his fourth goal of the match in the 58th minute. “We going for twenty” the St Dominic’s kids sang on.
De Silva was orchestrating it again and this time Husbands got his second in the 60th minute. He would complete his hattrick in the 65th minute and surely now, Chad De Freitas, sitting in the stands with a niggling injury, may have been wishing he was on the pitch to add further to two goals in the competition so far.
Knox got a fifth in the 69th and De Silva had the crowd cheering again when he finally got his first goal, hitting home an indirect free kick from the six yard box after the goalie held a back pass.
Paul scored with a neatly taken left foot shot for a 17-0 lead in the 81st minute and then Husbands got his fourth in the 85th and a fifth item in the 90th to end the goal spree.
In the earlier game of the double header, Netherlands Antilles came from a goal down to win 2-1 and advance the “quarters”. The Saints opened the scoring in the 20th minute when Alanje Rogers latched on to a pass unmarked on the right and maintained his composure to strike the ball firmly into the left corner of the net. But seven minutes later, the Dutch hit back through Quinten Ammerlaan finished off a neat move on the left by slamming a left footer home for the equalizer. Ammerlaan would be the hero for his team as he scored the eventual winner with a well taken shot from inside the penalty box in the 40 th minute.
T&T Line-Up:
21.Terrence Ramsaroop, 4.Robert Primus, 16.Mark Rivers (6.Brenton Balbosa 81st), 5.Ryan O’Neil (2.Sheldon Bateau 81st), 7.Sean De Silva (capt), 14.Brandon Rupert, 8.Stephan Chang, 13.Jean-Luc Rochford (12.Franz Husbands 46th), 9.Stephen Knox, 15.Daniel Joseph (Daniel Cyrus 64th), 18.Leston Paul.
Subs Not Used:
1.Jesse Fullerton, 3.Andell Noray.
Group-E Standings:
P W L D F A P
T&T 3 3 0 0 29 0 9
N.Antilles 3 2 1 0 9 5 6
St Kitts 3 1 2 0 12 8 3
Anguilla 3 0 3 0 0 37 0
News from the 7th of August 2005.
Sealy's goal seals victory as Wizards post upset.
Trinidad and Tobago international Scott Sealy scored the winning goal in the 74th minute and the Kansas City Wizards snapped the New England Revolution's nine-match home winning streak with a 2-1 victory on Saturday night. Kansas City (8-5-8) took the lead in the 47th minute on Chris Klein's goal. New England (10-4-6) tied the match in the 48th minute when Grenadian Shalrie Joseph scored his third goal of the season, a header to the top right corner, after a cross from Taylor Twellman.
Twellman had a goal waved off due to an offside in the 77th minute.
New England had five corner kicks by Jose Cancela during the first half and two good chances by Clint Dempsey, but was unable to break past Kansas City goalie Bo Oshoniyi. Three minutes after scoring his 6th goal of the season Wizards hero of the night Scott Sealy was then subbed in the 77th while T&T defender Avery John played a full 90 minutes for New England.
Nixon’s double as Stars defeat Jabloteh 2-1.
By: Jovan Ravello (Guardian).[/size]
National Quarries North East Stars put up a dogged display against CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh to take a well-earned 2-1 win in a T&T Pro League round 13 match at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo yesterday.
Although the early play was evenly distributed, making for some exciting exchanges, Stars, the defending champions, got the opening goal, as Jabloteh custodian Duarance Williams failed to properly handle Kern Thomas’ 26th-minute freekick. The rebound fell to Jerren Nixon who had the easy task of putting the ball into an open goal from just inside the six- yard box.
As expected, Jabloteh, winner in 2002, 2003, pressed for the equaliser, while Stars were spurred on by their quatro and drum rhythm section set up within earshot of their bench.
Stars were content to keep possesion much to the frustration of their opponents. And in the 37th minute Jabloteh’s Cyd Gray put in a wayward tackle on Nixon, receiving a yellow card for his indiscretion.
Devon Mitchell followed with a heavy tackle on Stars’ Anthony Wolfe and was shown the yellow card. Almost immediately after the resumption, Wolfe broke free down the centre of the pitch and was fouled by Williams him just inside the area. Nixon calmly put in his second goal.
The Jabloteh players got reward for their endeavours in the 64th minute, as Josh Johnson latched on to a perfectly weighed cross from Aurtis Whitley, but this was all the team could produce, Whitley, looking to impress national assistant coaches Theo De Jonk and Whim Rhizerburg who were among the sparse crowd, had a chance to level the scores eight minutes later, after referee Patrick Hunte awarded a penalty when defender Kern Thomas inadvertently handled a Nigel Daniel corner. But Whitley could only look on in disbelief when his spot-kick rebounded from a post.
And, in the 89th, hard-working Jabloteh defender Dexter Franklyn powered his header, from a Johnson corner, against the bar and the rebound was scrambled off the line by North East defender Davidson Neptune.
Stars had survived their toughest test in the 2005 competition to date.
Caledonia AIA Fire lay waste to United Petrotrin, winning their match at the Larry Gomes Stadium in Malabar, winning 3-0 with goals from Alvis Faure Diaz (44th), Adbullah Phillips (74th) and Handell Manswell (75th).
The W Connection versus Tobago United match had to be postponed as Connection’s 9 am flight to the sister isle was delayed. The team had not boarded an aircraft by 3.30pm, at which time it was decided that the match would be rescheduled for midweek.
News from the 6th of August 2005.
Beenhakker looks at John, Sealy tonight.
By: Ian Prescott (Express).[/size]
Trinidad and Tobago coach Leo Beenhakker may be looking to boost his forward line leading up to the August 17 CONCACAF World Cup match against the United States at Rentschler Field-East Hartford, Connecticut.
The Dutchman is currently in the United States where tonight he will have a look at the Kansas City Wizards striker Scott Sealy, who has been regularly scoring goals for his team. Sealy has not played for Trinidad and Tobago since Beenhakker took over from Bertille St Clair on May 1, 2005, but he had been coming off the bench under the former coach.
While in the USA, Beenhakker will look at a Major League Soccer (MLS) game featuring Avery John's New England Revolution and Scott Sealy's Kansas City Wizards which takes place at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts at eight o' clock Eastern time tonight. In addition to Sealy, Beenhakker will get another look at New England Revolution defender Avery John who played all three preliminary games for T&T at the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Beenhakker returns on Monday after which he will name his squad which leaves for Connecticut at the end of the week.
The Express has learnt that T&T has, through former national captain David Nakhid, done similar scouting on the teams they have to play in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers and now have tapes of the United States, Costa Rica and Guatemala in action.
Meanwhile, manager Bruce Aanensen told the Express that Beenhakker has allowed the Britian-based professionals to join his pre-match camp in the United States a couple of days late.
"Some of the pros will join around the 12th in Connecticut, while some will be a little late. The guys based in England and Scotland have games on the 13th, so we will allow them to play those and then join us. Yorke (Dwight) will be among the first to join the camp. He arrives in the United States on the 12th (August)."
The rest of the 'Warriors' contingent leaves T&T next Friday and travel via Miami to Connecticut, where they will be based at the Sheraton Hotel. Once in the United States, the camp will begin regardless of how many players are present.
However, any plans to have a warm-up before the main match has been effected by the arrival of players and Beenhakker will now concentrate on an intense training camp. All Trinidad and Tobago's professionals are said to be available for selection, although goalkeeper Clayton Ince is reported to have a rib injury. Aanensen said that they still have to ascertain the degree of his injury, but he is confident that in Shaka Hislop and Kelvin Jack, the team will have two quality goalkeepers.
Under 15s score six after the break.
By: Shaun Fuentes.[/size]
Hosts Trinidad and Tobago secured their second win and a place in next week's quarter finals of the Caribbean Football Union Under 15 Youth Cup when they hammered six second half goals to defeat St Kitts/Nevis 6-0 at the Hasley Crawford Stadium on Friday evening.
A pair of goals by Chad De Freitas, substitute Leston Paul and one each from Stephen Knox and Mark Rivers ensured a good for the T&T side after the visitors held them at bay in the first half.
In other matches, after arriving in Trinidad on Thursday and then Tobago on Friday morning, Canada had their game pushed back by two hours but still ended up handsome 9-0 winners over Dominica while Grenada were 8-1 winners over St Lucia at the Dwight Yorke Stadium.
At the Ato Boldon Stadium, Guatemala defeated US Virgin Islands 1-0 and Aruba and Antigua and Barbuda played to an entertaining 3-3 draw. In the other match played at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Netherlands Antilles were 7-0 winners over Anguilla.
More to follow.
Group-E Standings:
P W L D F A P
T&T 2 2 0 0 10 0 6
St Kitts 2 1 1 0 11 6 3
N. Antilles 2 1 1 0 7 4 3
Anguilla 2 0 2 0 0 18 0
Trinis in action today (Saturday).[/size]
Southampton 0 v 0 Wolverhampton.
Crystal Palace 1 v 2 Luton Town.
Norwich 1 v 1 Coventry City.
Gillingham 2 v 1 Colchester.
Barnsley 2 v 0 Swindon.
Southend 1 v 2 Port Vale.
Swansea 1 v 0 Tranmere.
Barnet 1 v 1 Bristol Rovers.
Peterborough 0 v 1 Chester City.
Wrexham 2 v 0 Boston Utd.
Celtic 2 v 0 Dundee Utd.
Inverness CT 0 v 1 Rangers.
Dundee 3 v 2 St Mirren.
Yokohama FC 1 v 2 Yamagata.
Sydney FC 0 v 0 Queensland Roar.
Real Salt Lake 2 v 1 Chivas USA.
San Jose Earthquakes 2 v 1 Columbus Crew.
New England Revs 1 v 2 Kansas City Wizards.
Caledonia AIA Fire 3 v 0 Utd Petrotrin.
S.J Jabloteh 1 v 2 N.E Stars.
Tobago Utd v W Connection (postponed).