Football coach faces uphill task.
By: Joel Bailey (Newsday).
Trinidad and Tobago Under-20 football team coach Zoran Vranes has described the training squad, under his watch, as “promising”. The team is preparing for the staging of the CONCACAF Under-20 Championships in January/February next year, when four teams will earn spots to play at the 2009 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Egypt.
But the Yugoslav-born Vranes, who was a former national “senior” team and Under-23 coach, has endured a few hiccups along the way, including player availability and their training habits.
During a recent training session at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva, Vranes said: “Approximately, we had three times a week for training. It could be better. We have some problems with some players who are supposed to be part of the team and still I didn’t see some of them. It’s nonsense but that’s true.
“We have to support the Under-20 national team in the right way if we are to get from them what we expect,” Vranes continued. “I can say it’s a very talented and very promising team.
“If we have what we need to develop them, if we organise everything a little bit more professionally, if the players are more professional, if things are going how it’s supposed to be, I expect good results,” said Vranes. “Otherwise, we’ll miss something that’s excellent for us and nobody will get any benefit from (it).
“Generally, I could say Trinidad has a very promising Under-20 team and everything is up to us, from now on,” he added.
Some of the World Cup members who are part of the Under-20 pool of players include captain Leston Paul, Akeem Adams, Sheldon Bateau, Sean De Silva, Daniel Joseph, Marcus Joseph, Stephen Knox, Kevin Molino, Robert Primus, Jean-Luc Rochford, Glenroy Samuel, Aubrey David and Chike Sullivan. Also included in the training squad are national striker Jamaal Gay, Akeem Bailey, Uriah Bentick, Chad De Freitas and Trent Lougheed.
Pertaining to the World Cup players in his ranks, Vranes noted that the players have impressed him, in terms of their work-rate and national experience, but their ages may be a factor.
“They’re still young, by one year, than they’re supposed to be,” he said. “Some were (born) in 1990 or 1991 and Under-20 is supposed to be, at the right age, 1989.
“It’s not a big problem in any way,” he noted. “They’re still promising and I expect good results from them.” Another problem affecting Vranes is the inability to get a full pool of players to work with.
“The majority of them (are) in school still,” he said. “Very soon, school is supposed to be over and I expect to have them here.
“Right now, (another) problem (is) their obligation to club,” he continued. “Some guys are already playing for ‘senior’ Pro (League) team, some of them playing for reserve teams, some of them Under-18 and it’s problem.
Vranes pleaded, “I will like to have them in my team, the Under-20 national team. We’ll work with them as a team and to give them hard work and good experience.
“We have some very nice plans. I hope we’ll get our plans and wait for January and February to see how they’ll perform,” he ended.
