Warriors go for it.
By: Shaun Fuentes.[/size]
Trinidad and Tobago’s had their final training session and their first at the Estadio Romel Fernandez on Friday night and will be indoors at the Riande Aeropuerto Hotel for all of Saturday before taking the 20 minute drive to the venue from 6:15 pm for the crucial encounter against Panama from 8pm (9pm T&T time).
Head coach Leo Beenhakker and his men rested their legs for much of Friday which as expected took up pace on the eve of the weekend as the hotel lobby was occupied throughout with guests and the traffic on the roads increased from the past four days the “Warriors” have been in town.
The conditions dampened too as the rains came down from early Friday and lasted until about mid afternoon. It also rained around 8pm on Thursday night after the team returned from training at the National Stadium. Soon after dinner, the time was right for a few games of pool especially after Beenhakker left the breakfast time open until 10 am. Skipper Dwight Yorke, Russell Latapy and Stern John were the sharp shooters with Kelvin Jack and Shaka Hislop not doing too badly themselves. Yorke eventually finished with the most wins.
While the mood in camp has been an upbeat one, there has been no room for complacency and Beenhakker ensured this as was evident in Thursday evening’s training session.
Fielding what appeared to be his starting eleven, the Dutch-born coach was pumped up after observing perfect possession play and crisp passing. For the first time in the camp he had been raising his voice as if to say “Yes boys this is what I have been asking for all the while.”
In fact, in the middle of a water break, “This is how we must play the football,” Beenhakker shouted.
Midfield maestro Russell Latapy was also shaking his dreads saying “We go kill them” referring to the T&T players in the yellow bibs but also as if to say that the Panamanians would be in for a killing on Saturday night. The only possible change could be Densill Theobald coming in for Aurtis Whitley. There were no injury worries in the camp with only midfielder Chris Birchall receiving a knock on the instep earlier in the week but he was back in training by Wednesday evening without any discomfort.
The T&T presence will be further felt when the BWIA charter flight touches down about two hours before kick off with 150 odd fans backed by Angostura Woodbrook Playboys Steel Orchestra and Laventille Rhythm Section, all courtesy TSTT, Ministry of Sport and the 2006 Local Organizing Committee. And once things go as planned, the same plane will arrive at Piarco around 5:25 am Sunday full of smiling passengers including all members of the T&T team. FIFA Vice President Jack Warner will also be among the T&T faithful as well as Honourable President George Maxwell Richards and other officials.
“Gentlemen we must want it more than ever and we must be ready from now,” Beenhakker said. “Don’t expect to get yourselves feeling ready on Friday or on the day of the match because you will never be able to give one hundred percent in the game. Think back at all our away matches and you will see that we have played only in the second half. But now we must do it from the start and finish at the end. The bad news is that we have not done that so far but the good news is that we can still do it.”
Yorke was feeling good about a win on Saturday.
“Things have gone well so far. Aside from a couple little things that you will also get when you are playing away, everything else has been fine. It’s up to us to play the kind of football and get the result that we all want to achieve. I don’t believe that anyone will go out there and not do what is needed to achieve this,” Yorke told TTFF Media. In the 2001 semi final round match up with Panama, Yorke scored a hattrick in his first game as captain in the 6-0 win at the Queen’s Park Oval. Of course, Panama have come a good way since then but Beenhakker has also lifted the “Warriors” and the “Little Magician” was not on the field on that overcast day at the Oval due to suspension.
Derby City striker Stern John certainly will not mind scoring again following his first half strike in the 2-0 win in Port of Spain.
“Goals win matches and that’s what we need to do. Whether it’s me or one of the other players, the main thing is that we must do whatever it takes to get three points and once I can contribute to getting it then that’s what matters,” he said.
Panama’s coach Jose Hernandez is not backing down easily though.
“We will try to make a tough game for them. No team will want to lose and we intend to play a good game of football. T&T must earn a result and we are at home so we won’t just sit and let them get three points,” he said. Canadian Mauricio Navarro will carry the whistle on the night.
Jack Warner predicts victory tonight.
Leaving it up to the boys.
By: Shaun Fuentes.[/size]
Defender Brent Sancho will be out for three weeks before he can return to action following a reoccurring hamstring injury which forced him out of this country’s upcoming back to back World Cup qualifying matches against Panama and Mexico.
Sancho, who was originally in the squad for the matches, phoned the T&T camp during T&T’s training session at the National Stadium in Panama on Wednesday evening “just to get a feel of how things were going”.
He says the period since the injury last Saturday when he pulled up during action for English club Gillingham, has been a testing one for him. He will have undergo rehab which will include strengthening of the hamstring and straightening of his pelvis region - basin-like area outlined by the hip bones and the vertebral column.
“It has surely been one of the worse weeks of my career so far having to sit back here and not be able to do anything with the team for these two games,” Sancho told TTFF Media.
“Is just a case of leaving up to the boys now to take care of business on the pitch. I know they can definitely pull it off but it would be so much better if I could play some role. But as it is now, there’s nothing I can really do about that now,” he added.
“I would give anything to be part of it now,” he said.
The former Dundee player is expected to make the trip home though to be with the “boys” and witness Wednesday’s match against Mexico.
News from the 7th of October 2005.Carlos: Anything for the red, white and black.
By: Shaun Fuentes.[/size]
Prominent English-based professional Carlos Edwards has his sights set on playing in the Premiership, especially the way Luton Town are playing these days. But the big focus for the former Wrexham star is getting over these next two games for T&T.
These two games being referred begins on Saturday against Panama at the Estadio Romel Fernandez and then at home to Mexico four days later at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
For Edwards, these two games could set the pace for the “rest of our lives”.
“I’m always thinking positive. This is our best chance to go all the way,” Edwards told TTFF Media as he sat down in the Riande Aeropuerto Hotel lobby on Thursday morning. He was passing some time after learning that the morning training session was put off due to a late arrival of the team bus which stemmed from a strike action by bus drivers here.
“Nothing’s going to get us frustrated because we know all we have to do is get a result over Panama and then automatically we will all be more relaxed and geared up for the match against Mexico next well.,” Edwards said.
He reflected on the last few months in which he was forced to look on from the sidelines due to a serious knee injury.
“It was a very tough time in my career because I was fighting up with the injury and then just after recovering and moving to Luton, something else came up again. It was really frustrating but now thankfully I’m over it and I thank God for that. It was a whole different vibe coming back in the national team and being part of this drive again.”
“There was a little adjustment to make with the new technical staff but I think the transition occurred for the better of the football, not just for the team but for the country on a whole. Things worked out in the right way and it’s still happening.”
The ex-St Anthony’s College standout is all smiles when the topic of life at Luton Town comes up.
“From the first day there I was able to settle in nicely. We had a good laugh and the players even locked me in a room inside the first week. That was their way of welcoming me and saying well they want me to stay. I’m having a lot of good times there both on and off the pitch and we just intend to keep this up.”
Shorlty before taking the walk back to his room for a short nap before lunch, the talk turns back towards T&T and reaching Germany.
“Right now we are all just thinking about the next two games and the playoffs to follow. With the national team it’s always different because you are representing the whole population. I always try to keep a positive frame of mind that we can go out there and win the game once we are wearing the red white and black,” he smiled on his way out of the lobby.
Meanwhile, yesterday morning, the Panamanians tried to play some tricks on the visiting team. With breakfast scheduled for 8 a.m. at the Riande Aeropuerto Hotel, Yorke and his teammates were told that it would not be ready until 8:30, which forced the departure for the training pitch to be pushed back by half-hour to nine o'clock.
Added to that, the players were left waiting around as the team bus had not arrived by 9 a.m. and the management was then informed that the driver would be running some 30 minutes late due to protest action involving the bus drivers association.
That led to T&T head coach Leo Beenhakker cancelling the practice as it would affect the day's schedule. However, he warned the Warriors of a more intense session in the evening. As the players all returned to their rooms, the bus pulled up and the driver then told the T&T management that he had been advised that the team had pushed back training by an hour.
"It's all part of the game but it won't throw us off," Beenhakker said.
T&T trained yesterday evening at the National Stadium and will have one further session on the eve of the match at the Estadio Romel Fernandez, venue for tomorrow's affair which kicks off at 8 p.m. Panama time.
But while the intention of beating Panama is the main aim these days, members of the national team did not forget the passing of former teammate Mickey Trotman.
Last Monday made it four years since he lost his life in a vehicular accident and it occurred when T&T were preparing for a World Cup qualifier against Honduras in which Stern John went on to score the winner to send Honduras crashing out of the race.
This time, though, it's the Warriors who are vying to keep their chances alive and they will be doing it without forgetting Mickey. "It's not something that we have forgotten and certainly Mickey is someone we will never forget," said goalkeeper Shaka Hislop.
"It's been four years now since he left us and just during this week we were sitting and talking about him. So in that way he's still in our thoughts and you can expect us to bring home a good win with him in mind aside from the overall desire to get a result to improve our chances of qualifying," said Hislop.
Cultural show before T&T vs Mexico.
By: Shaun Fuentes[/size]
In the midst of Saturday’s 2006 World Cup qualifier between this country and Panama in Panama City, plans are underway for the staging of a bumper pre-match cultural show ahead of this country’s follow up qualifier against Mexico next Wednesday.
The match could turn out to be one of the most anticipated in the country since the 1989 November 19 against the USA as a positive result following a win over Panama will push T&T closed to the 2006 World Cup. And to make the occasion one to remember, the National Carnival Commission has joined the 2006 Local Organizing Committee to produce the show.
The entertainment segment begins at 5:15 and will include performances from Sagicor Exodus, Shiv Shakti Dancers, TSTT Dancers, Woodbrook Playboyz and Soca Stars Maximus Dan and Destra as well as Denyse Plummer.
The tassa drummers will be positioned outside the Stadium to welcome the fans into the venue. The Stadium and environs will also be a clean zone and parking inside the venue will be restricted. FIFA has also appointed a security officer, David Sabir, General Secretary of the Bermuda Football Association, to ensure that all measures are in place for the match.
Falkirk's bid for Theobald hit by red tape.
By: Greig Thomas.[/size]
John Huges last night revealed his bid to sign Densill Theobald is being held back by red tape and a shortage of cash.
The Falkirk boss was impressed by the Trinidad and Tobago international midfielder during a two-week trial.
Player-coach Russell Latapy tipped off Yogi about Theobald, who plays for Caledonia AIA Fire in his homeland.
The player, who watched the Bairns' 2-2 draw with Hearts on Sunday, would love a chance to play in the SPL.
But Hughes has already spent his budget and realises Theobald could have work permit problems despite being a regular for his country.
While the 23-year-old is on World Cup duty against Panama at the weekend, Hughes will try to hammer out a deal with his directors for the player when he returns.
Hughes said: "Densill is young, has great vision and passing ability - you can see that after two minutes.
"He is a full international but we need to see what the situation is with the work permit. We're at the first stage and need to see if he qualifies.
"I also need to sit down with my board of directors and work out what we can do.
"Money is tight so we need to see if we can come to some kind of arrangement with his club. We could take him until Christmas and see what we think of him and what he thinks of us.
"If we were going to take him on a longer deal we would probably have to pay a fee so we need to weigh it all up."
