Boyz, T&T clash - Regional giants face off in friendly
BY IAN BURNETT Sport Editor
IT is scheduled to be the return leg of the twomatch international friendly football series between the Caribbean’s top two countries — Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.
But based on the nature of their feisty matches of the years, today’s 6:00 pm encounter at the National Stadium is expected to be anything but friendly.
The Reggae Boyz, ranked 76th on the FIFA Coca-Cola list, are pumped up for the derby and will hand international debut caps to two youngsters today — 18-year-old Marvin Morgan from local outfit Boys’ Town and 24-year-old Shaun Francis from the Columbus Crew in the US Major League Soccer.
Morgan, who helped St George’s College to the Olivier Shield and Manning Cup titles last year, will be given a chance to showcase his talent, though he is yet to convince at the senior Premier League level, while Francis was drafted in the fourth round (63rd overall) of the 2010 MLS SuperDraft by the Crew to fill one of the club’s four developmental roster spots.
No points will be at stake today, but the importance of ‘bragging rights’ can’t be understated, especially after the Boyz stole the Soca Warrior’s thunder with a 3-1 hiding at the Marvin Lee Stadium on August 11.
Dane Richards, who has been in impressive form for the New York Red Bulls of late, opened the scoring with his first goal for Jamaica in that game, and Rodolph Austin added a second before being redcarded for dissent, with Kavin Bryan netting the third. Devon Jorsling replied for Trinidad.
At the time of that encounter, the red-and-black clad Trinidadians wore the mantle of Caribbean kings, being ranked at 76th on the FIFA list, while Jamaica played second fiddle, ranked at 83rd. Now the roles are reversed.
“The Trinidad and Jamaica rivalry is no different from a local league derby,” Jamaica’s head coach and former star player Theodore Whitmore said, before adding: “It’s not all about football, there is bragging rights at stake and as you know that our president (Captain Horace Burrell) and the CONCACAF president (Trinidadian Jack Warner), they have their rivalry at that level too.”
For Trinidad and Tobago’s head coach Russell Latapy, a football icon, today’s game is a continuation of their preparation for the Digicel Caribbean Cup, which is slated for Martinique between late November and early December. Jamaica are the defending champions.
“The exercise on Sunday (today) is much the same thing for us to have an idea of exactly where we are in our preparation. And we think if things go to form on paper, these two teams would most likely be victorious in the Digicel Cup, so the game gives both a chance to have a better look at each other,” said Latapy.
Since the defeat to Jamaica, Latapy has come under immense pressure based on the team’s results, with even his country’s Sports Minister Anil Roberts surprisingly threatening to relieve him of the job if he fails to lead them to victory at the Caribbean Cup.
But Latapy remains unperturbed, preferring to take the philosophical route.
“In football management it is a game of results, and if you don’t get positive results then changes have to be made. But fortunately for us, we will be judged by results in the Digicel Caribbean Cup, and that is not upon us yet.
“Our main purpose is the Digicel Cup and its preparation. There are several aspects of our game that we want to work on and these games are the perfect opportunities to do so,” he argued.
Since the teams last met, Trinidad and Tobago have played a total of five matches — a 0-3 loss to Panama, a 0-0 result with Belize, 1-0 and 3-0 wins against Antigua and Barbuda and St Lucia, respectively, and a 1-1 result with Guyana two weeks ago.
During that same period, the Boyz have played just two games, beating Costa Rica here 1-0 on September 5, and then losing 1-2 to Peru two days later in Fort Lauderdale.
Heading into today’s encounter, Latapy has strengthened his team with the inclusion of four overseasbased players — Julius James from DC United, Keon Daniel from Puerto Rico Islanders, Yohance Marshall from LA Galaxy and Cornel Glen from the San Jose Earthquakes.
Meanwhile, Whitmore, too, has called for the services of veteran Stoke City striker Ricardo Fuller, who has recently recovered from a shoulder injury. Other overseas-based players at his disposal are skipper Shavar Thomas, Francis, Ryan Johnson, Dane Richards and Rodolph Austin.
Whitmore, Jamaica’s twogoal hero in a 2-1 win over Japan at the World Cup Finals in France in 1998, told the media that the younger players in the Jamaica set-up need to understand the ramification of the Caribbean derby.
“For those (players) who don’t understand the rivalry, we have to get them to start thinking about the game because it’s going to be a dingdong battle come Sunday,” he said.
He added: “One of the areas that we will be concentrating on is ball possession. I think at the international level we tend to give away the ball a lot, and that’s something we want to improve on.”
Jamaica held a training session in rain at the Stadium East field last evening, but the weather proved a little more unkind to the visitors who were also scheduled to work out at the same venue later in the evening, possibly under lights.
Trinidad and Tobago’s captain Clyde Leon is more focused on how well the team plays.
“A victory will be a kind reward for our concentrated efforts to put in place some of the things we are working on. But how we play will be of greater importance at this stage of our preparations, as it will give us a better idea of where we are at the moment with the Digicel Cup a month off,” he said.
The starting team is goalkeeper Richard McCallum, along with captain Shavar Thomas, Jermaine Taylor and Adrian Reid in a three-man defence; Rodolph Austin, Eric Vernan, Dane Richards and Francis in a four-man midfield, while Keammar Daley, who will be having his second start for the senior team following his first against Argentina in February, will form a threeman attack with Morgan and the dangerous Fuller.
The 20-man squad is completed by Andre Blake, Ryan Johnson, Troy Smith, Dicoy Williams, Richard Edwards, Dever Orgill, Navion Boyd, Oliver Trail and Ricardo Cousins.
