Latapy comes home on Tuesday.
By: Shaun Fuentes
Scottish-based midfielder Russell Latapy is scheduled to arrive in the country next Tuesday August 30 to join coach Leo Beenhakker’s training camp ahead of the next 2006 World Cup qualifier against Guatemala at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on the Saturday.
Latapy, who made himself available to the National team again following a discussion with Jack Warner on Monday, is expected to play for Falkirk against Aberdeen on August 27 and then has to tie up some personal business before taking the flight out of London along with the rest of the selected UK-based players. Latapy’s local representative Wayne Mandeville also “confirmed that Latapy was scheduled to touch down on the stated date.
Team skipper Dwight Yorke is scheduled to arrive in Port of Spain on Monday August 29 and should be available for the start of the training camp the following morning.
“Russell is set to come in on the 30th after a game with Falkirk that weekend. He has a couple things to see about and then he will be here with us,” team manager Bruce Aanensen said on Wednesday. “He will come in with the rest of the guys on that flight and Dwight along with Silvio (Spann) are expected to be with us the day before.”
Latapy added, “I have commitments at the club and obviously that has been the big thing in my career up to recent times but I have made this decision to come back and be part of the national team and the necessary procedures will follow from here.”
The former T&T captain played 90 minutes and set up one of the goals in Falkirk’s 2-1 win over Partick Thistle on Tuesday. He cleverly split the Thistle rearguard allowing Stephen O'Donnell to steal in behind and slam a left-footed shot from 16 yards past Kenny Arthur and into the corner of the net.
Several of the current members of the team have expressed enthusiasm in playing with the “Little Magician” again and so far the general feeling has been a positive one regarding the sort of contribution to former FC Porto player can make at this stage of the campaign.
“I met with Russell several times when I was at Dundee and the thought of his return would always pop up but back then it seemed it would never happen. But now that he’s decided to rejoin the team, it definitely will add something extra to what we have at the moment,” Sancho said on Wednesday.
Local-based pro Densill Theobald couldn’t hold back his feelings adding “Since the start of the final round I kept saying how great it would be to have the ‘boss’ back in the team. Even when he said he wasn’t coming back a few weeks ago I still kept my hopes up and now my wish seems to have come true. Even as a young player in the team, I am really anxious to see him on the field for us again,” Theobald said.
Meantime, team doctor Terrance Babwah has been monitoring Brent Rahim’s strained calf and the midfielder is expected to be ready for training again by this weekend.
But there was unfortunate news for striker Hector Sam who suffered a broken leg in Port Vale’s 3-1 loss to Rotherham United in English League One action on Tuesday. Agent Mike Berry said the player may be out for up to three months.
The home-based pros trained on Tuesday under assistant coaches Wim Rhisbergen and Theo de Jong who had a look at the Guatemalans in their last World Cup qualifier against Panama earlier this month. Beenhakker returned to Holland to tie up some personal business and returns here on Thursday. He will no doubt also be keeping a close eye on the Guatemalans who face Jamaica in a friendly on Saturday in Kingston.
Latapy looks to a memorable ending.
By: Shaun Fuentes.
Returning national soccer midfielder Russell Latapy says he intends to finish his international career with pleasant memories and he is intent on helping T&T to get to a World Cup final before he hangs up his playing boots.
Latapy revealed on Monday that he is willing to return home to be in the national team for T&T’s next two World Cup qualifiers against Guatemala (September 3) and Costa Rica (September 7) in the first instance, after being convinced by FIFA vice-president Jack Warner and his pal, Dwight Yorke, that his services are sorely needed by the country.
And Latapy, now back with Falkirk in the Scottish top flight, added to reporters that he’s now having a time on the pitch.
“Maybe it seems as though I’m enjoying it more, and maybe I am, because I’m kinda seeing the light at the end of the tunnel,” he grinned.
“I don’t know how long I’m going to be able to play at the highest level, so I’m really enjoying the last of it. One of the reasons I didn’t quit when I left Rangers is because your last memories of the game stick with you for a long time and I want them to be positive,” Latapy said.
Those words can surely be an indication that the way in which he hung up his T&T shirt in 2001 never really left his mind and now the “Little Magician” is hoping to finish his international playing career with flourish.
“The country needs me now and I’m definitely up for playing at a time when I’ve been asked to come back and make this sort of contribution,” Latapy added. The Scottish media continues to stress that Latapy is the main force in the Falkirk team these days.
Evans Wise signs new deal in Germany.
By: Shaun Fuentes.[/size]
Evans Wise of T&T is once again back on the overseas professional circuit.
The left-side player, known for his eye-catching dribbling ability, signed with German Third Division club Waldhof Mannheim earlier this month, after being a free agent from September 2004 when he last played for Wacker Burgerhausen.
Wise said he went back to his family in Washington DC to take care of some personal business but has re-entered the football scene and is even hoping to get a look from national head coach Leo Beenhakker.
“I have been a free agent since September 2004 when I ended my last stint in Germany. I took time off to go back to DC to handle some personal business, but now I’m back on the playing field and I’m enjoying my football again with Waldhof,” Wise said. So far, Wise has appeared in the two matches the Waldhof team has played so far this season, winning one and drawing the other.
Kevin Nelson off to Australia.
By: Shaun Fuentes.
Tobago-born striker Kevin Nelson took a gruelling 48-hour plane trip for the chance to have a trial with Adelaide United in Australia last week.
The former T&T Under-23 player arrived “Down Under” on Friday and is under consideration at United, to take the place of retired midfielder Aurelio Vidma.
The 26-year-old Tobagonian is hoping to join Dwight Yorke as the second T&T player to play in the Australian League. He played with Ottawa Wizards in Canada and has also had stints in Belgium, Venezuela and England.
"Kelvin" Jack in the box.
By Lasana Liburd (Express).[/size]
"To be a good goalkeeper, you need to have complete belief in your ability and yourself," said Trinidad and Tobago and Dundee goalkeeper Kelvin Jack. "And you can only get that by training hard and being totally at ease with your own game because it is a very lonely position.
"For example, you will never see a striker put his hand up if a goal scores through his own goalkeeper's legs even if the play broke down when he lost the ball. Who would they blame? The goalkeeper is always to blame.
"That is the nature of the position and you have to be a strong character to deal with it."
In a sport built on scoring rather than preventing goals, most goalkeepers have their gloves forced upon them. A youth team coach might have forced them between the uprights because they were taller than their teammates or awful in every other position.
The 29-year-old Jack may be one of the strangest in a weird bunch. As Trinidad and Tobago tuned into the televised 1982 World Cup and mesmerised children declared an affinity with Italian top goal scorer Paulo Rossi, Brazilian attacker Zico or Argentine midfield playmaker Diego Maradona, a six-year-old Jack chose English and Belgian goalkeepers Ray Clemence and Jean-Marie Pfaff respectively as his idols.
"I loved the sound of Ray Clemence's name and that attracted me to the position," said the Scotland-based custodian, with a laugh. "I also remember Jean-Marie Pfaff wore a bright yellow kit and I fell in love with it."
His rise in the game, thereafter, was steady and sure; more a testament to hard work than freakish fortune.
On September 3, Trinidad and Tobago coach Leo Beenhakker will face his toughest job in charge of the national team when T&T tackle Guatemala in a decisive World Cup qualifier.
Beenhakker's use of team captain and ex-Manchester United star, Dwight Yorke, as well as all-time leading scorer and Coventry City forward, Stern John, will be issues for national debate.
Jack, almost certainly, will start in goal with minimal fuss. It is a notable achievement considering that the goalkeeping position is the most hotly contested berth in the squad with the likes of Shaka Hislop, the country's most successful export, and multiple Caribbean Goalkeeper of the Year, Clayton Ince, in reserve.
Remarkably, in a rare moment of self-doubt, Jack nearly conceded the fight for the number one shirt before it began as he was mentally drained by an injury ravished 2004/05 season when Beenhakker initially invited him to stake his claim.
"I was not going to take the invitation," said Jack, who played just five times for Dundee last term. "Last season was a nightmare for me. It was the first time in my career that I ever had so many injuries and it affects your self-confidence because you start wondering if you could just get back to your best level straight away.
"I only had two reserve games as preparation (before the World Cup qualifier against Panama) and I wondered if it was sufficient preparation. I also wondered if I should rest through the summer to get my body right after a serious injury.
"But, at the last minute, I decided to go."
The six-foot-three and 215-lb goalie might remember his decision to rejoin the national team in June as a pivotal point in his career.
Jack beat Ince to a starting place in the qualifier against Panama, which Trinidad and Tobago won 2-0, and was already entrenched in the position by the time Hislop turned up at the July CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament. He started in all six competitive matches under Beenhakker.
The ex-CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh custodian and Holy Cross College student credited the friendly rivalry for his form since inheriting the number one position.
"Trinidad has three other very good goalkeepers as well as young Duarance (Williams) who will eventually take over," said Jack. "So you know that to get the number one jersey, you have to be on top of your game for not just every minute of every game but of every training session too. I think that is only a positive thing.
"Everyone wants to be number one but, saying that, Shaka is a top pro and we talk a lot and always bounce things off each other so it is a very healthy rivalry."
Jack did not say it but, in some ways, his single-mindedness and work ethic might mirror his coach's intensity.
Beenhakker, who prefers points to panache, does not conform to the Dutch stereotype while Jack's obsession with punctuality and perspiration also seems at odds with the image of Trinidad and Tobago athletes.
"The comment about Trinidadians that most upsets me (in Britain) is that we are lazy," said Jack. "As a goalkeeper, I am very intense and work very hard. I am also very vocal because I think communication is crucial I don't play with a smile on my face because it is not in my personality.
"Although off the field, my friends usually say I am one of the biggest clowns around who likes to have fun and joke around and wind up people."
Jack is adamant that Trinidad and Tobago will qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany while he also set himself the target of leading the newly- relegated Dundee back into the Scottish Premier League (SPL).
He has already played four games for Dundee in the 2005/06 season and is yet to taste defeat while he picked up a Man of the Match award and was selected as the First Division's "Goalkeeper of the Week" by the Scottish Sun newspaper.
"The pace of the (First Division) game is frightening," said Jack. "From what I have seen so far, it is better than many people think and it is certainly quicker than the SPL. You have to be switched on all the time because it is end to end football.
"There is much more physical contact here and you can't come gracefully and take a ball in the air without someone challenging you. So you have to be strong physically and have an aggressive mindset." Jack, one thinks, has the tools for the job.
Sam blow leaves Vale looking for attacking options.
By James Robson.[/size]
Port Vale striker Hector Sam could be out for up to three months after it was confirmed he broke his leg in Tuesday's Carling Cup defeat at Rotherham. The Trinidad and Tobago international is still awaiting confirmation of how long he will be sidelined, but it looks certain he will miss the next two months at least.
Vale manager Martin Foyle bemoaned Sam's luck after only just getting back to match fitness following an injury in pre-season.
The latest blow leaves Foyle short on attacking options, with Lee Matthews still not considered ready to start a match.
The Vale boss said: "He's definitely got a crack in the bone, but it's hard to guess how long he'll be out. We should have more of an idea when it's looked over again.
"But we are looking like eight weeks plus.
"It's a massive blow for him and me because he did well in pre-season, but got an injury at the wrong time. Then he gets back to a position where he's pushing for a place in the team and this happens."
Foyle spent yesterday trying to secure some loan signings before the weekend, but as yet has been rebuffed in his approaches.
But he revealed he has received the backing of the board to strengthen his squad after injuries this week to Sam Collins, Mark Innes, George Abbey and Mickey Bell.
Foyle said: "I've got no problem with the board, it's getting people who want to come and play that's difficult. I've got players in mind, but it's a bank holiday and clubs don't want to let them go. "A lot of clubs have got small squads this season."
