“Warriors” makes a late fight of it.
By: Shaun Fuentes.[/size]
Trinidad and Tobago head coach Leo Beenhakker conceded defeat in his team's latest 2006 World Cup qualifier to the United States but feels that the 1-0 result does not need to be dramatized as the “Warriors” stayed within distance of the third and fourth teams Costa Rica and Guatemala at the end of matches on Wednesday in CONCACAF.
T&T remained on four points, ahead of Panama (two points) while Guatemala moved to seven, same as the Costa Ricans who were beaten 2-0 away to Mexico. The Mexicans are out front with 16, one more than the US.
The Dutch-born coach was particularly harsh on his team for their slow start to proceedings which saw the Americans grab on 91 seconds.
“I was not happy but I think I could not ask more of them in the second half when we played with ten men” Beenhakker told TTFF Media.
“We know a long time now that the United States always start strong and we made the same mistake. We knew also that our team always seems to need about twenty or twenty five minutes to get in the game and I don’t know why. We worked on it and we talked about it. But I don’t know if they need to work more on their minds or with more pressure,” he added, voicing his concern about the inability to get off the mark on a quicker note.
“The US start was killing and we also had some bad luck because when we also got into the game a bit more we lost a guy. It was a good decision from the referee and I don’t blame him.”
Looking back at the performance, he said briefly: “At least we were in the game in the second half with ten guys and we had a lot of ball possession.
And looking ahead to what is now a must win match at home to Guatemala on September 3, the man in charge ended: “We learnt a lot and once again we saw that it is killing to start a match in such a way. I hope that the guys will pick it up. We also know that we don’t have to dramatize this result because USA is very strong like Mexico which did it’s duty and beat Costa Rica. It means they still have seven points and we are three behind. We still have it in our hands.”
US coach Bruce Arena added : "I think we deserved the three points. I thought we played very well and I think we felt guilty perhaps we made it a little bit difficult on ourselves. Give them credit: they never quit. They defended well and we failed to convert our chances. However, the three points is huge. Fifteen points after six games is as good as it gets and I think we're getting real close to qualifying for Germany. We’re pleased where we are.”
The match was played in front of typical die hard American fan base but the visitors were well represented too by a number of fans who turned out in their “Red” from shirts to flags with drums and all to give Dwight Yorke and his men some form of support away from home.
But with no time to settle, the T&T faithful were scratching their heads and goalie Kelvin Jack admitted that he was left shell shocked when a mishap on the right back position allowed Bobby Convey to push behind Atiba Charles and play one across for Brian McBride to knick home for a 1-0 USA lead. It was the beginning of a miserable first half for T&T as goalie Jack had to bring off some masterful work between the sticks to keep T&T in the match.
T&T took way too long to settle and just when the started to make a match of it, a bad back pass by Marvin Andrews forced Dennis Lawrence to use illegal force to prevent Landon Donovan from going clear to goal and the Wrexham defender was given marching orders. At the time, Beenhakker was looking to put Scott Sealy on the right wing and force Silvio Spann into a right back position. But just as Lawrence got sent off, he was forced to throw Brent Sancho into the fire and push Sealy up top. The switch led to probably the best performances by Sancho and Spann in that right back position. Yorke also dropped into the midfield and after weathering the first half storm, T&T put in a revamped second half performance.
T&T’s first shy at the goal came in the 7th minute when Chris Birchall’s left side corner went just past the far post as Lawrence just couldn’t get in on time.
For the US, Oguchi Onyewu had an attempt cleared at the last second and then Jack escaped when his clear out, after admitting he was in two minds to take a touch or clear first time, ended up falling straight to Donovan who saw his effort blocked by a racing Jack off his line.
Yorke almost created a good chance when he fought off a defender on the right of the box but just managed to get his cross blocked out.
The second half began with T&T looking desperate to get back into the contest but still vulnerable with the ten men. Onyewu forced another good save from Jack in the 56th minute and then Convey’s low drive brought the best out the Dundee man. Jack ended up with ten saves.
All the while, a fighting Sancho held his ground with desperate but timely tackles and kept his composure in holding position and getting the ball out of the danger area. And though called upon to perform extra duty at the back, Spann was still able to make the some runs forward on the right.
Kenwyne Jones who came on for Stern John, almost had a penalty call in his favour when he pushed into the left of the box and went down following a tackle but the referee didn’t see it in T&T’s favour.
And Andrews narrowly missed out on a touch to a right side ball which went inches past the left post.
Convey was sent off for a second booking in the 87th minute and with an extra three minutes on the clock, T&T tried in vain to steal a late point. A better second half showing definitely meant that the hard journey continues as the “Warriors” demonstrated that they can still pull it off and it continues at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on September 3 against the Guatemalans.
The local-based contingent is scheduled back home at 1:30pm Thursday while all the overseas-based players were scheduled to depart to their respective destinations on the same day. Yorke was due out of Connecticut on Thursday and schedule to arrive in Sydney on Saturday.
TRI:
21-Kelvin Jack; 3-Avery John, 4-Marvin Andrews, 2-Atiba Charles (8-Scott Sealy 46th), 6-Dennis Lawrence; 9-Aurtis Whitley, 16-Silvio Spann, 7-Christopher Birchall, 20-Collin Samuel (5-Brent Sancho 46th); 19-Dwight Yorke (capt), 14-Stern John (15-Kenwyne Jones 55th).
Subs not used:
1-Shaka Hislop, 18-Densill Theobold, 23-Anthony Wolfe, 24-Cyd Gray.
Head Coach:
Leo Beenhakker.
USA:
18-Kasey Keller; 4-Chris Albright, 22-Oguchi Onyewu, 3-Gregg Berhalter, 7-Eddie Lewis; 19-Steve Ralston (9-Santino Quaranta 72nd), 10-Claudio Reyna (capt), 5-John O'Brien (14-Chris Armas 46th), 15-Bobby Convey; 21-Landon Donovan, 20-Brian McBride (13-Taylor Twellman 83rd).
Subs not used:
1-Tim Howard, 2-Greg Vanney, 11-Jeff Cunningham, 12-Jimmy Conrad.
Head Coach:
Bruce Arena.
News from the 17 of August 2005.
‘Warriors’ go for it.
By: Shaun Fuentes.[/size]
“We have got to work hard in every department of our game.”
That’s how captain Dwight Yorke summed up the requirements for Trinidad and Tobago to get a positive result in their 2006 World Cup qualifier against the United States at the Rentschler Field on Wednesday from 8pm.
The Sydney FC striker was speaking on the eve of the match following a training session with the “Warriors” in Hartford. The team worked out twice with light sessions, one closer to match time at the venue for the game shortly after the US team trained. Head coach Leo Beenhakker allowed his players to go through some routine drills and more or choose their own exercises as they got ready for the encounter.
The forward practiced their shooting with services from the sides from Chris Birchall, Cyd Gray, Collin Samuel and Densill Theobald. Kansas City Wizards’ Scott Sealy and Stern John were particularly sharp in their shooting while Yorke was as ever clinical in his approach. It was good signs for Beenhakker who was also feeling safe without any further potential injury problems.
“It’s definitely going to be a difficult game for us and it means that we must work in every department of our football for this game,” Yorke told TTFF Media after the training. An ESPN camera crew was also on hand to get a final glimpse of the “Warriors” getting ready.
The aim is a win but even failure to come away without a point will not mean the end of hopes for Yorke and his men as matches to follow at home to Guatemala on September 3 and then away to Costa Rica the same week will no doubt prove crucial in the race for third and fourth spot.
“But we definitely want a positive result here. The Americans have come a long way and they are ranked very high right now. They were certainly no pushovers in their recent match against England and that says a lot,” Yorke added. “But I think we have had a decent build up to the game and once we can put everything together on the day then we certainly can come away with something.”
Beenhakker has been careful in his preparations because he knows it could be a close game and every bit of preparedness could be a key in the final result.
“We know what the US can offer and I am sure they might be thinking the same of us because there is a history between both countries on the football pitch. But we have prepared and everything matters on how best we can get it together as a team on the pitch when the whistle goes and I mean everything depends on that,” Beenhakker stressed.
A number of T&T fans are expected to be in the stands with some 20,000 tickets already sold for the game and possibly even more as kick off approaches.
US coach Bruce Arena says he expects T&T to be defensive in their approach.
“They are different now from having one coach to the next one now and they will place a lot of emphasis on defending and I think they will be elated to get three points. They will try to keep the game even for as long as possible and that will require good organization which I think the new coach has brought to the team now… they have a good unit,” Arena said. When asked to comment on the last meeting when USA won 2-1 in February, he replied: “That game has nothing to do with this one. There are no similarities, it’s different players, different coaches and a different situation”
“We have no injuries in the camp now. There is no reason not to believe that we can’t get three points. Claudio has looked good and pretty fit and he wants to be here. They will obviously feel better and be really ready to go on Wednesday.
Reyna expects to face an organized T&T side.
“Since Beenhakker has taken over they have been a very organized team. They always have good attacking players in Dwight Yorke and Stern John with a lot of experience and they are athletic. They have a big physical presence in the back. From all the reports since he (Beenhakker) has taken over they have been very organized and with a lot of disciplined. I think it’s gong to be tough for us to break them down. We have to be patient and be careful of their counter attack especially with them being the road team I think that will be their game plan,” Reyna said. Missing from the USA side will be Eddie Johnson, DaMarcus Beasley and Eddie Pope while T&T is without Brent Rahim and Carlos Edwards.
The Teams:[/size][/b]
T&T Roster for USA match
Kelvin Jack, Shaka Hislop, Marvin Andrews, Brent Sancho, David Atiba Charles, Cyd Gray, Dennis Lawrence, Avery John, Christopher Birchall, Collin Samuel, Aurtis Whitley, Densill Theobald, Anthony Wolfe, Silvio Spann, Dwight Yorke (capt), Scott Sealy, Kenwyne Jones, Stern John.
USA Roster for T&T match
Kevin Hartman, Tim Howard, Kasey Keller, Chris Albright, Gregg Berhalter, Jimmy Conrad, Oguchi Onyewu, Greg Vanney, Chris Armas, Bobby Convey, Eddie Lewis, John O’Brien, Santino Quaranta, Steve Ralston, Claudio Reyna (capt), Jeff Cunningham, Landon Donovan, Brian McBride, Taylor Twellman.
Jason back in Scotland.
By: Graeme Finnan.[/size]
Jason Scotland was back at Tannadice today, but Dundee United fans shouldn’t raise their hopes of a permanent return for the Trinidadian striker.
Scotland is back in this country on a six-month holiday visa, but, with no work permit, is unable to sign professional forms for any club.
However, he was a welcome face on the training ground this morning after accepting an offer from United boss Gordon Chisholm to come in and keep his fitness ticking over.
Scotland is in limbo, after having his work permit refused by an SPL panel. Now, without a club, he’s unable to muscle his way into the Trinidad set-up and, therefore, little chance of meeting the 75% international criteria required for a work permit to be granted.
Work permit for Sancho & Gillingham.
By: Shaun Fuentes.
There was better news for defender Brent Sancho. He secured his work permit on Monday and got the news from agent Mike Bery, while at the Sheraton Hotel in Connecticut. The permit means that Sancho can sign with English League One club Gillingham, or any of two other clubs interested in him.
“It’s a relief to get the permit out of the way and, hopefully, once this (US) game is out of the way it could allow me to go back to the UK and finally sort out a new contract,” said the former Dundee defender.
Kenwyne Jones loves Soca too.
By: Shaun Fuentes.[/size]
Striker Kenwyne Jones has insisted that he is a major fan of Soca music as well after reports in the English Press about Southampton boss having to play reggae music to make him feel at home following a blow to the ankle last week.
“He took a knock on the ankle - but we played some Bob Marley reggae music and he was fine. That lad is so laid-back it's not true!” Redknapp said after Jones scored against his former club Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.
But Jones, currently with the T&T team in Connecticut for today’s World Cup qualifier against the US, explained that Jamaican teammate Ricardo Fuller was on the bus and offered the Marley song when Redknapp asked about it.
“Fuller had the Marley and we went with that but I’m a real fan of Soca music. They can’t take that away from me.”
Looking ahead to the US match, he added “I played in the last meeting between the two teams and hopefully I can make some sort of contribution this time too. We need a positive result and I think we have worked hard in training and should be able to pull off a good one.”
