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Soca Warriors depart for Jamaica today
Monday, December 1st 2008
T&T captain: Aurtis Whitley Trinidad and Tobago's footballers will depart for Kingston, Jamaica this morning to contest the 2008 Digicel Caribbean Championships Finals a confident bunch.
So said team captain Aurtis Whitley, who will be hoping to return to form as he attempts to settle back into the national squad for next year's final round of World Cup qualifying.
Whitley missed all of T&T's semi-final round matches due to injury and was also not considered for the recent 3-0 win over Cuba.
But Whitley had a good time in his last appearance in Kingston, scoring the last-minute equaliser and leading the "Soca Warriors" to a 2-2 draw with the "Reggae Boyz" in March.
"I enjoy playing in Jamaica. The last time we played there we showed a lot of character, even though people didn't expect us to do too well. And we have a lot of the same players going back for the tournament, so I expect we will give a good showing as well," Whitley told Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) media officer Shaun Fuentes yesterday as the team gathered at the Crowne Plaza in Port of Spain for the night prior to today's departure.
"Personally, I am working to getting back to my best and hopefully the playing time in Jamaica will be a big help. The rest of the squad will also be looking to make the most of these matches because really it's like a warm-up phase for us for the qualifiers next year. Yes, we want to go out and win all our matches and also take a spot for the (CONCACAF) Gold Cup next year. But I think the real focus is to try and get things right on the pitch for the final round in 2009."
T&T will check in at the Knutsford Court Hotel and coach Maturana will get in two sessions prior to Wednesday's opener against Grenada at the National Stadium.
Grenada, ranked 139 in the world, defeated the Reggae Boyz 2-1 in a friendly international in June. Their team will be at full strength for the tournament, with the addition of their overseas-based players, including the likes of Portmore United captain Anthony Modeste, midfielder Shalrie Joseph, of MLS club New England Revolution, and Rudolph Williams.
A release from Digicel, the tournament's main sponsors, has Trinidad and Tobago as the favourites to win the US$120,000 first prize based on the fact that they are the only team from the Caribbean still in the 2010 World Cup qualifying phase.
"The winners and runners-up of both groups will advance to the semi-finals of the Championships and to the region's premier CONCACAF Gold Cup, which will be held in the United States in July 2009," said the release.
"Based on the fact that they are the only Caribbean team left in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers, Trinidad and Tobago's Soca Warriors are expected to start as favourites for the Digicel Championships, with the Jamaica Reggae Boyz and Haiti expected to give them a good fight."
Guadeloupe and Cuba, who over the years have made it to the final four, and to a lesser extent Grenada, are expected to be competitive, while Barbados and Antigua & Barbuda, who narrowly qualified, are expected to bring up the lower half of the table.
Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago are expected to field line-ups with a number of overseas-based professionals, while Haiti, Cuba and Guadeloupe will utilise primarily home-based talent. The Digicel Caribbean Championships' prize pool is US$270,000, with the winner to take home a grand prize of US$120,000 and the coveted Digicel Caribbean Championships trophy.
The runners-up will receive US$70,000 and third and fourth places will collect US$50,000 and US$30,000, respectively. -See Page 47
Monday, December 1st 2008
T&T captain: Aurtis Whitley Trinidad and Tobago's footballers will depart for Kingston, Jamaica this morning to contest the 2008 Digicel Caribbean Championships Finals a confident bunch. So said team captain Aurtis Whitley, who will be hoping to return to form as he attempts to settle back into the national squad for next year's final round of World Cup qualifying.
Whitley missed all of T&T's semi-final round matches due to injury and was also not considered for the recent 3-0 win over Cuba.
But Whitley had a good time in his last appearance in Kingston, scoring the last-minute equaliser and leading the "Soca Warriors" to a 2-2 draw with the "Reggae Boyz" in March.
"I enjoy playing in Jamaica. The last time we played there we showed a lot of character, even though people didn't expect us to do too well. And we have a lot of the same players going back for the tournament, so I expect we will give a good showing as well," Whitley told Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) media officer Shaun Fuentes yesterday as the team gathered at the Crowne Plaza in Port of Spain for the night prior to today's departure.
"Personally, I am working to getting back to my best and hopefully the playing time in Jamaica will be a big help. The rest of the squad will also be looking to make the most of these matches because really it's like a warm-up phase for us for the qualifiers next year. Yes, we want to go out and win all our matches and also take a spot for the (CONCACAF) Gold Cup next year. But I think the real focus is to try and get things right on the pitch for the final round in 2009."
T&T will check in at the Knutsford Court Hotel and coach Maturana will get in two sessions prior to Wednesday's opener against Grenada at the National Stadium.
Grenada, ranked 139 in the world, defeated the Reggae Boyz 2-1 in a friendly international in June. Their team will be at full strength for the tournament, with the addition of their overseas-based players, including the likes of Portmore United captain Anthony Modeste, midfielder Shalrie Joseph, of MLS club New England Revolution, and Rudolph Williams.
A release from Digicel, the tournament's main sponsors, has Trinidad and Tobago as the favourites to win the US$120,000 first prize based on the fact that they are the only team from the Caribbean still in the 2010 World Cup qualifying phase.
"The winners and runners-up of both groups will advance to the semi-finals of the Championships and to the region's premier CONCACAF Gold Cup, which will be held in the United States in July 2009," said the release.
"Based on the fact that they are the only Caribbean team left in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers, Trinidad and Tobago's Soca Warriors are expected to start as favourites for the Digicel Championships, with the Jamaica Reggae Boyz and Haiti expected to give them a good fight."
Guadeloupe and Cuba, who over the years have made it to the final four, and to a lesser extent Grenada, are expected to be competitive, while Barbados and Antigua & Barbuda, who narrowly qualified, are expected to bring up the lower half of the table.
Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago are expected to field line-ups with a number of overseas-based professionals, while Haiti, Cuba and Guadeloupe will utilise primarily home-based talent. The Digicel Caribbean Championships' prize pool is US$270,000, with the winner to take home a grand prize of US$120,000 and the coveted Digicel Caribbean Championships trophy.
The runners-up will receive US$70,000 and third and fourth places will collect US$50,000 and US$30,000, respectively. -See Page 47
Wah...Kobe Bryant a play fi T'dad? 
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