dated...but the Trini Team as seen by The Trinidad Guardian

[Karl]

Bring on the Reggae Boyz

T&T’s Randi Patterson, left, tussle with El Salvador’s William Romero Castillo for the ball in their international friendly at the Marvin Lee Stadium, Macoya on Wednesday night. T&T won 1-0.
Photo: Anthony Harris

AFTER a very encouraging win over El Salvador in their international friendly last week at the Mavin Lee Stadium, the Soca Warriors now move on to the ‘Office” Kingston Jamaica, where they will play the host in another friendly international this Wednesday.

Bouyed by their 1-0 win over El Salvador, the Warriors will be looking to turn back the Reggae Boyz in their own backyards.

The squad to oppose Jamaica will be much more experienced than the one that faced El Salvador.

Belgium-based goalkeeper Jan-Michael Williams and Defence Force defender Aklie Edwards have been drafted into the squad.

Williams of Royal White Star Woluwe FC (Belgium) and currently on loan from Sheffield United has been drafted into the squad to replace last year’s Fifa Under-17 T&T goalkeeper Glenroy Samuel.

Samuel was the substitute’s bench for the win over El Salvador, while Edwards was also an un-used substitute against El Salvador and will replace central defender/midfielder Keston Williams.

The decision to bring in Williams is based on having a much more experience back-up goalkeeper seeing that the match is away from home, while Williams pulled up in training yesterday.

The other overseas-based players in the T&T squad which will assemble in Kingston on Monday are Sunderland FC duo Carlos Edwards and striker Kenwyne Jones, forward Darryl Roberts (Sparta Rotterdam), Collin Samuel (Toronto FC) and defender Osei Telesford from the United States.

The remainder of the squad comprised home-based players, goalkeeper Marvin Phillip, Kern Cupid, Keon Daniel, Aurtis Whitley, Akeem Adams, Jamal Gay, Khaleem Hyland, Makan Hislop, Kerry Baptiste, Keyeno Thomas and Charleston Battery forward Randi Patterson.

Skipper Aurtis Whitley who made his comeback for the El Salvador game is very happy with his team.

The 2006 World Cup player fitted in well with a host of new players
”It feels good,” Whitley told media officials following his team’s victory. Whitley who wore the captain’s armband said that it didn’t make much difference wearing the armband, he just wanted to play.

”I felt we played really well. It was a really good performance by the players, especially with a young bunch. We went out and played to the coaches’ plans,” he said.

Whitley who finished last season with W Connection hinted on resurgence for both club and country in 2008, and his return to the national team could well be a start.
He also praised debutant, Charleston Battery forward Randi Paterson and credited hime as the player of the match.

Patterson who believed he did enough to impress the T&T coaches for another selection said, “At first I was a little bit nervous. But I thought I played pretty well. I should have scored a couple goals and have some assists but I didn’t.”
Coach Francisco Maturana credited his young team for showing a lot of heart in their win over El Salvador.

United Petrotrin midfielder Keon Daniel was the scorer, with a deft left footed free-kick that dipped and went in off the base of the right post past the desperate dive of goalkeeper Juan Jose Gomez.

Speaking after securing his first win in charge of the T&T squad following a dull 0-0 draw with Guadeloupe last month at the Queen’s Park Oval, Maturana said, “This is good for the future of T&T football.”

Included in the Colombian coach line-up for the Aurtis Whitley led T&T team were a couple of teenagers, in debutants , left back Akeem Adams, aged 16, and striker Jamal Gay, aged 18.

Adams was a member of the T&T team at the Fifa Under-17 World Cup in Korea last year and looked at home during the match while the lanky Gay, who had never before played for T&T at any level, showed flashes of talent, which surely caught the eyes of the technical staff.

He added, “It’s a young group that played from their hearts. They were intelligent. I saw them playing from their hearts in executing their coaches’ plans.”
Assistant coach Anton Corneal who labelled the team as almost Under-23 added, “This is something that we can use for the future. We used youngsters such as Akeem Adams, Jamal Gay and Randi Paterson who is new to everyone but they all showed potential. We don’t know their role tomorrow but we are sure we have players for the future.”

Just as T&T’s previous encounter against Guadeloupe at the Queens Park Oval which ended goalless, Maturana used the El Salvador friendly to improve defensively.

Corneal explained, “We normally bring in attacking players from abroad. We can always find forwards and midfielders, so coach (Maturana) saw the need to fix the team defensively.”

”Getting the players to remain compact and play cohesive for the 90 minutes was our plan and our plans worked against El Salvador. We saw very little errors by our team and we were able to force El Salvador to play the ball from side to side rather than forward,” added the satisfied assistant coach.

[Karl]

...and the Trinidad Express said -

Soca Warriors tangle with Reggae Boyz

Wednesday, March 26th 2008
KINGSTON SHOWDOWN: Trinidad and Tobago players go through their paces during a practice session yesterday in Jamaica. The T&T Soca Warriors take on Jamaica's Reggae Boyz in an international friendly tonight at the National Stadium in Kingston.Dutch-based striker Darryl Roberts will lead the Trinidad and Tobago attack, hoping to make an impression on coach Francisco Maturana in today's friendly international against Jamaica at the National Stadium, Kingston from 7 p.m. (8 p.m. T&T time).

Roberts, who will line up along with US-based striker Randi Patterson, is coming off recent goals for his club Sparta Rotterdam against Ajax Amsterdam and PSV Eindhoven and knows he will be carrying a big responsibility against the "Reggae Boyz".

He had his first session with the team under Maturana at the National Stadium last evening.
"We're trying to fight off relegation but every time I come home to play for the national team and to wear national colours it's always been a pleasure," said Roberts, referring to his Dutch club.

"My country is always in my heart and I always feel proud when I get the call. I always try to do my best for my country when I get the chance," Roberts told Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (T&TFF) media officer Shaun Fuentes.

"I'm looking forward to playing against Jamaica. Aside from the rivalry, it's also a stepping stone to building a team for the Word Cup qualifiers this summer so I want to try and do my best and represent well.

"Definitely, every time I step on the field, I look forward to playing against anyone and also with the guys here. Although some of the other guys didn't come for this game I have a responsibility along with the other players on the team to represent the country to the fullest and hopefully we can get victory here," Roberts added.

"Coming to play for the country can be a bit difficult for both for me and the club but there is nothing more exciting than representing my country and the manager and coach have  to understand this. They support me 100 per cent and hopefully when I go back I can fight for my place in the club."

Maturana conducted a 90-minute session on Monday and then had use of the match venue for an hour yesterday.

"It is a chance to get the players prepared for the game so we settled on the first day and then today (yesterday) we do more work in relation to the game against Jamaica. We have a couple of the players coming from overseas and we will do the best we can to let them in it with the rest of the team. Jamaica is a team that will not be easy to play at home. They will want to win this game but we will not give them an easy time because we have our plans as well and we are preparing for qualification. We will hope to play the best possible game on the day," Maturana told Fuentes yesterday.

T&T skipper Aurtis Whitley will be hoping his team can carry on from last week's 1-0 win over El Salvador, but he knows that this one will be a different type of contest.

"Jamaica will not be easy to play at home but I think it's a good test for some of the players we have in the squad now," said Whitley.
Trinidad and Tobago will not have the services of Sunderland duo Kenwyne Jones or Carlos Edwards for the game.

FIFA vice-president Jack Warner and T&TFF president Oliver Camps will fly in today to witness the match.


The T&T players include: goalkeeper Marvin Phillip (W Connection), Kern Cupid (W Connection), Keon Daniel (United Petrotrin), Aurtis Whitley (W Connection), Akeem Adams (T&T U20s), Jamal Gay (T&T U20s), Khaleem Hyland (San Juan Jabloteh), Makan Hislop (United Petrotrin), Kerry Baptiste (Joe Public), Aklie Edwards (Defence Force) and Keyeno Thomas (Joe Public).
Belgium-based goalie Jan Michael Williams, Collin Samuel (Toronto FC), Roberts (Sparta Rotterdam), Odei Telesford and Patterson (Charleston Battery) complete the squad.

Jamaica's squad, with former T&T coach Rene Simoes in charge: Goalkeeper: Donovan Ricketts (Bradford City); Defenders: Demar Phillips (Stoke City), Omar Daley (Bradford City), Tyrone Marshall (Toronto FC), Demar Stewart (Royal Whitestar), Oneil Thompson (Notodden Football Club); Midfielders: Jamal Campbell-Ryce (Barnsley), Khari Stephenson AIK of Allsvenskan; Forwards: Marlon King (Fulham), Luton Shelton (Sheffield United), Deon Burton (Sheffield Wednesday).

[Jangle]

Hey a thought just come to me. How many changes did the Trini coach make, and when did he make them? Could he have afforded a loss? Was his job on the line? Was it a job well done for him? Outside of the two Sunderland players does TnT have other foreigners to bring into the team? What about the white boy who played for them in the WC? In reality, his team beat our local boys in the secoond half. Did they struggle? How many of their "big" players played in the second half?