DWIGHT YORKE TO THE RESCUE

--- DWIGHT YORKE TO THE RESCUE ---

 

 

Perhaps we need to start at the beginning.

How did we end up in this situation in the first place?

Why is it, that every four years we have the same problems, with no obvious solution?

What is there about football that makes us fall in and out of love with players and officials so easy?

Where is the next Russell Latapy coming from?

Many of us will be ashamed to say, what is the solution, and it is in fact to be more passionate and determined about sport.

So it is clear, that the majority of this twin Republic Trinidad and Tobago want Francisco Maturana to be fired, and expect this change (no matter who it is) to have a positive effect on the team.

While all of this continues, and our Federation appears indecisive and bewilderingly polite.

Our strongest sporting Neighbours, Jamaica took less than a few hours after their second defeat to terminate the services of Rene Simoes (the man who had singlehandly led Jamaica to their first and only World Cup appearance (France 1998) to date.

Leading regional sports Journalist, Jamaican Simon Crosskill told me on I-Sports (on I95.5FM) that, one of the reasons was that after the success of Jamaican’s Athletes at the Beijing Olympics, the people of Jamaica could not accept failure in football, and those in authority were aware of the feeling of the populace.

It is perhaps this reason that shows why Jamaicans are more patriotic than Trinidad and Tobago Citizens, because they care so much, that they wear their heart on their sleeves, many of us prefer to use our heart to bring pair rather than love in Sport.

So the truth is Francisco Maturana has utilized over 30 players since his arrival in Trinidad and Tobago earlier this year. And by a stroke of poor advice, his lack of appreciation to the media, by learning our language has hampered his chances of ever being understood.

We can’t understand Maturana’s style?

We can’t understand Maturana’s daily changing tactics?

We can’t comprehend Maturana’s team selection?

We simply cannot understand Maturana?

And he seems not to be perturbed or disturbed by that.

With less than a month left to our crucial 4^th match on October 11^th in Guatemala, what can Maturana do differently?

First, he can expose more of the former Soca Warriors to his camp; names such as Chris Birchall, Brent Sancho and Silvio Spann come to mind.

But there are other questions to be asked, because at least one player Stern John has been removed from the team because of his reported attitude and behaviour. Some have said openly that a disruptive nature is the worst thing in any sports and they would rather lose than have that in their team.

For me, that is poor management skills and suggests a lack of objectivity and a proper awareness that talented players sometimes (not always) can be eccentric. In this world of sports, being able to adapt and improvise is critical to success.

Unfortunately in Trinidad and Tobago’s current situation in football, it is not so, as it seems there are a lot of personality problems.

For the best interest of Trinidad and Tobago football to be achieved, we all need to agree on several matters, among which are:

1)      Can the Current Coach command the respect of the senior players on the team?

2)      Is the team unified?

3)      There are reports that the locally based players are not happy with the influx of overseas based players, is that true?

4)      And why is it that certain locally based experts such as Lincoln Tiger Phillips, Everald Gally Cummings, Edgar Vidale and Ken Butcher are not being utilized more.

There is no doubt in my mind that Francisco Maturana is the wrong man for the job, I have said it and written about before and since the Bermuda fiasco, but like a Bermuda Triangle (Maturana, Alvin Corneal and Anton Corneal) with a very deep hole, it seems all the questions have been buried because we progressed to the next round.

Birchall’s fitness has been called into question, even as we use some midfielders for only 45 minutes in some matches, and we are all certain of one thing, Chris can give us at least 45 minutes.

Actually on Thursday one caller told me, he believed that 30 minutes from Russell Latapy would be better than 70 or 80 minutes from many of the current midfielders on the team, and honestly given the recent performances, it is hard to argue with that analysis.

One other point , has to be the influence of Dwight Yorke on the team, his departure because of Roy Keane’s clear insulting disregard for Trinidad and Tobago was probably too big a blow for this team to accept.

This shows me that, our current Trinidad and Tobago team is crying out for a leader with substance both on and off field and Yorke’s inspirational style is now critical to the team’s future.

We should not worry with Roy Keane; he may be history as Sunderland manager before the end of the season, as what goes around comes around.

To the future, even though it looks bleak, we can beat Guatemala (Which we must) with or hopefully without Maturana.

 

:: AB

 

 

TTFF NEWS - Warner's Response to Keane's Comments

JACK AUSTIN WARNER                                               100 YEARS FIFA 1904‐2004   
FIFA Vice President

September 12, 2008
Mr Roy Keane
Manager
Sunderland F.C.

Dear Mr Keane,

The disrespectful tone of your reported comments in the press further demonstrates the total disrespect that you and others of your ilk have generally for players and officials from "small" countries. It is obviously difficult for you to accept the fact that someone from a "small" country could rise to become a Vice President of FIFA.

I chose to respond on a FIFA letter-head because that is a privilege afforded me owing to my said status and the fact that your callousness showed utter disregard for FIFA's regulations re the release of players for international duty. regrettably, but not surprisingly, you did not grasp the message.

Your reference to the injury sustained by Kenwyne Jones during an International Friendly between Trinidad and Tobago and England bears no relevance to the matter in question as, contrary to what you would have others believe, we have been monitoring his progress and I have even extended to him, through his Agent, Mike Berry, on more than one occasion my words of comfort and continuing concern.

In closing may I remind you that a player's greatest honour is to represent his country in spite of the fact that you chose to walk away from yours during the 2002 Korea/Japan World Cup after publicly abusing your Manager.............an indictment that you will no doubt be proud of up to today. Poor Sunderland ! ! !

Yours sincerely
Jack Warner
Vice President
FIFA
 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Keane: Warner's a clown

 

 

Roy Keane

 

« Previous « PreviousNext » Next »View GalleryADVERTISEMENTPublished Date: 12 September 2008

By Graeme Anderson

Roy Keane today labelled Fifa vice-president Jack Warner a "clown".

 

The Sunderland manager was responding to criticism from Warner about the club's treatment of Dwight Yorke.

 

Yorke was recalled home after playing one game for Trinidad and Tobago during the international break and Warner accused him of having a 'mean streak'.

 

Keane, though, reacted contentiously to the criticism.

 

He told the Echo: "I have seen what has been said and I am disappointed but not surprised that he has chosen to make his criticisms through the media.

 

"You've got to bear in mind that Dwight is supposed to have retired from international football about five times now and has yet to play a first team game for us after suffering a stress fracture of his cheek.

 

"To play two games inside a week was always going to be too much for him and Trinidad and Tobago were aware of that.

 

"I spoke to Jack Warner about the situation but I'm not surprised at what has been said by him.

 

"The man is a clown.

 

"I think he's a disgrace to go through the media the way he has.

 

"He doesn't really care about the players in the way he claims.

 

"He said he does but he doesn't."

TTFF NEWS - Rough Result (Match report and post-match comments)

 ROUGH RESULT - T&T SLIPS TO THIRD AFTER 3-0 LOSS           

Issued by Shaun Fuentes, TTFF Media Officer,September 11, 2008

Trinidad and Tobago’s Senior footballers put on a disappointing showing and conceded goals on either side of the half to go down 3-0 against the United States in their latest World Cup qualifier at Toyota Park on Wednesday night.

The “Soca Warriors” never settled and conceded in the ninth minute when Michael Bradley got inside two defenders to head home Landon Donovan’s left side free kick. Nothing would go right for the visitors but more would go wrong as nine minutes later, Clint Dempsey made it 2-0 with a powerful right-footed shot into the left side of the net.


Brian Ching added a header in the 57th to round off the scoring for the United States, who virtually guaranteed they will advance to the final "hexagonal" round of qualifying.

T&T slipped to third on the standings behind USA (nine points) and Guatemala (four points) who are ahead on goal difference after coming from a goal down to trounce Cuba 4-1 in Guatemala City. Roberto Linares put the visitors into the lead mid-way through the first half, drawing the hosts' wrath in the process. Guatemala top scorer Carlos Ruiz bagged a pair of goals and Mario Rodriguez and Jorge Contreras added insurance strikes inside the last five minutes.

Francisco Maturana started with the 4-5-1 formation with Cornell Glen being alone up top and Osei Telesford coming into the middle, Aklie Edwards on the left for the suspended Avery John and Makan Hislop coming in for Dennis Lawrence (not injured)  alongside Keyeno Thomas in central defense.

As the game progressed, T&T maintained its formation and Glen was given little room. The same went for Keon Daniel and Carlos Edwards as the Americans controlled the pace of game for the majority of minutes.

Only in the second half when Anthony Wolfe came on for Densill Theobald did T&T look like creating some threat on the USA goal.

What appeared to be going right in the last three games against El Salvador, Cuba and Guatemala just seemed to go all wrong at Toyota Park.

“We just never got off,” Glen told TTFF Media. “We had high hopes coming into the game but we never played the football. We conceded soft goals and the bad thing is that we worked on defending those free kicks because we knew that was USA’s strength and we still allowed them get in there easy. I think everybody is disappointed with this.”

Asked by reporters whether he felt he needed a partner to assist him even as the game progressed Glen responded. “It’s difficult to say because it worked in the previous games and yes I know this is America.But the coach makes the decision and as a professional player we have to abide by his call and try our best to work with it. I can’t say whether I was disappointed with his decision at this time. The result is 3-0 and we have to move on and forget about this game. We have to win in Guatemala,” Glen added.

Maturana had no time for excuses but definitely will need the next twenty days to find solutions before T&T travels to play in Guatemala City on October 11.

“What is there to say except for we didn’t play well and we lost the game. I was not happy with our play. We have to go and try to win our next match now and take it from there.”

Asked whether he felt T&T are now in a must win situation against Guatemala and whether he feels similar about the USA game four days later in Port of Spain, Maturana responded:  “Before this round we saw that Mexico, USA and maybe Costa Rica would always be among the top three and all the other teams would have to try and compete for fourth and even the third spot. The same goes for the second place in our group. I think there is a possibility that whichever team wins the next game (T&T vs Guatemala), they will advance to the next round. Right now I do not think about the match against USA (in October) but we have to focus on Guatemala.

“I don’t talk too much about players as whatever team you have you try to do the best possible (in response to Dwight Yorke’s late withdrawal). It did not work in our favour tonight. I do not make any excuses but we have to work at it again and pick ourselves up in order to dig deep for our results,” Maturana added.


(With excerpts from Reuters)
“It’s ideal, right?” Landon Donovan said. “We were excellent tonight. The first half was one of the most dominating performances I’ve ever been a part of. We were good all over the field.”

The Americans are 25-1-7 in home qualifiers since May 1985, their only defeat a 3-2 loss to Honduras in September 2001, and have outscored opponents 21-0 on U.S. soil since 2004. They’re also 9-0-2 in World Cup qualifying against T&T.

Though the Americans came in with a four-game winning streak, their offense has been patchy and they eked out 1-0 victories in each of the prior three games — all on the road.

No such problems against T&T, as the Americans got two quick goals in the first 18 minutes.

“That wasn’t important. The most important thing was to win,” Dempsey insisted. “Whether we scored one goal or five, a win is a win.”

DaMarcus Beasley earned the Americans a free kick in the ninth minute when he was tripped up as he sprinted down the left sideline. Second before Carlos Edwards appealed for a definite hand ball offence but Jamaican referee Courtney Campbell was having none of it and Edwards tracked back to commit the foul.  Donovan lofted the kick over the scrum in front of the goal and Marvin Phillip had no chance as Bradley flicked the ball into the goal with the right side of his foot.

Donovan pumped his fist when he saw the ball go in, and the rest of the Americans mobbed Beasley. It was Bradley’s third international goal, and second this year.

Nine minutes later, the Americans doubled their lead. Dempsey had the ball on the right side and fed Beasley on a give-and-go. There were four defenders in front of him, but they were lined up flat, and Beasley threaded the ball on a perfect pass to Dempsey, who put it in the far side of the net.

It was the fourth goal in as many games for Dempsey. He had two at home against Barbados, and also scored at Cuba. He did not play when the Americans traveled to Barbados.

“Their defense wasn’t comfortable coming in with (Beasley and Dempsey),” Donovan said. “And if they did come, our outside backs did a good job of getting around them and making it difficult. Time after time, we found little seams, we could turn plays and be dangerous almost every time we had the ball.”

After managing just one shot in the first 45 minutes, the Soca Warriors got much more aggressive in the second half and managed to create a few chances on corner kicks. Steve Cherundolo and Carlos Bocanegra cleared out two, and Oguchi Onyewu knocked another shot to safety just outside the goal.

But the Americans effectively ended the game in the 57th minute. Akile Edwards flipped Cherundolo into the air, drawing a yellow card and giving the United States a free kick. Beasley took it, and Onyewu headed it back toward the goal, only to have Phillip get his hands on it as they collided.

The rebound caromed straight to Ching, though, who was all alone in front of the goal and headed the ball into the net.

“Getting that third goal killed the game,” Donovan said. “They didn’t want to get embarrassed, so three goals is enough.”

The Soca Warriors’ thought they’d avoided the shutout in the 60th minute, when Glenn took a hard shot from just outside the box. American goalkeeper Tim Howard dove to his left and punched the ball away and second-half substitute Anthony Wolfe collected it and quickly put it into the open goal.

Referees quickly whistled it off, and replays showed he was, indeed offsides.

“We’ve not had a game like that in a while,” U.S. coach Bob Bradley said. “We had a few last year, but so far this year, that’s not the game we’ve been in. So it’s good to get things going in the right way.”

In Group 3 on Wednesday, Costa Rica claimed their third win in as many matches with a 3-1 victory over Haiti in Port-au-Prince.

El Salvador stayed in touch with the Group 3 leaders with a 2-0 victory over Surinam in Paramaribo.

Shawn Martin opened the scoring for El Salvador in the opening minute, and Marlon Felter's own goal spelled the end for the hosts as the 2-0 score stood through the final whistle. Mexico won 2-1 at home to Canada and Honduras also won 2-0 at home to Jamaica.

Team Lineups:


T&T: 1-Marvin Phillip; 3-Akile Edwards, 5-Keyeno Thomas, 9-Makan Hislop, 8-Cyd Gray; 17-Keon Daniel, 4-Osei Telesford, 2-Clyde Leon, 7-Carlos Edwards; 12-Densil Theobald (14-Anthony Wolfe, 46), 13-Cornell Glenn
Subs Not Used: 18-Jan-Michael Williams, 6-Dennis Lawrence, 10-Andre Toussaint, 11-Jason Scotland, 15-Kerry Baptiste, 16-Julius James
Head Coach: Francisco Maturana

USA: 1-Tim Howard; 15-Heath Pearce, 3-Carlos Bocanegra-capt., 5-Oguchi Onyewu, 6-Steve Cherundolo; 17-DaMarcus Beasley, 12-Michael Bradley (4-Rico Clark, 67), 16-Sacha Kljestan, 8-Clint Dempsey (7-Eddie Lewis, 78); 10-Landon Donovan, 11-Brian Ching (9-Eddie Johnson, 67)
Subs Not Used: 18-Brad Guzan, 2-Frankie Hejduk, 13-Maurice Edu, 14-Danny Califf
Head Coach: Bob Bradley

Stats Summary: USA / TRI
Shots                        11 / 6
Shots on Goal           6 / 2
Saves                          1 / 3
Corner Kicks              4 / 5
Fouls                           9 / 12
Offside                         9 / 1

Misconduct Summary:
TRI – Akile Edwards (caution)            57th minute
USA – Steve Cherundolo (caution)    59.
TRI – Clyde Leon (caution)                  59.

TTFF NEWS - Match Preview: Warriors try to spoil USA's home party

Warriors try to spoil USA’s home party

 

Issued by Shaun Fuentes, TTFF Media Officer in Chicago Sept 9,2008

 

Trinidad and Tobago’s Senior footballers will be aiming to spoil the first home party of the semi-final round for the Americans by grabbing a point or three when both countries face off in Wednesday’s 2010 Semi-Final round World Cup qualifying fixture at Toyota Park, Bridgeview, Chicago from 8pm.

 

The “Soca Warriors” here since Sunday, had a double session on the eve of the encounter as head coach Francisco Maturana tried to get his troops ready for battle. Maturana’s men have gone unbeaten in their last three World Cup qualifying matches but Carlos Gallardo’s last minute equalizer on Saturday robbed them of full points and as former LA Galaxy forward Cornell Glen put it, they want to make the Americans feel the backlash.

 

“We expect it will be a tough game because USA are at home and they have enjoyed good results against us but this is another day and a different game,”Glen told TTFF Media.

 

“I see no reason why we cannot get a result here. We will respect them but I think if we can start well and keep up with them for 90 minutes and more then this could be a close one that could go either way. A lot of us feel that it’s about time we get a positive result against USA,”Glen added after Tuesday’s morning session which took place in nippy conditions  at De Paul University Grounds in downtown Chicago. 

 

The ex-Columbus Crew man will also be wanting to get one on US head coach Bob Bradley who was in charge of him at New York/New Jersey Metrostars which subsequently released him during the off season.

 

“Bradley was my coach in my first year in the MLS but they sent me off. It would be nice to get a good showing here and maybe a goal. Nothing will come easy I can assure you and the rest of the team that. But we are prepared to work hard  for it.”

 

With veteran midfielder Dwight Yorke out after a late recall to Sunderland, T&T will also be without the suspended Avery John and Khaleem Hyland while midfielder Aurtis Whitley and Kenwyne Jones are out with injuries and there is no Stern John nor Chris Birchall. There is still some experience and strength in the team with the in-form Keon Daniel looking for his fourth goal in three matches, Swansea City duo Dennis Lawrence and Jason Scotland, Sunderland’s Carlos Edwards and Glen all capable of making an impact.

 

In all World Cup qualifying matches between T&T and USA, the Americans have won eight of ten, with two drawn.

 

Five players in the current T&T team played in the last meeting against USA. Densill Theobald was the captain, Jan Michael Williams was in goal, Andre Toussaint, Keyeno Thomas and Kerry Baptiste were also in the squad which lost 2-0 to the US in the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup played at the Home Depot Center, California on June 9, 2007. Brian Ching in the 29^th and Eddie Johnson in the 54^th were the scorers. Wim Rijsbergen was the T&T head coach. T&T went on to draw 1-1 with Guatemala with a late Errol McFarlane equalizer in their next match. This time around they are coming off a 1-1 draw with Guatemala with the latter stealing a last minute tying goal on Saturday. Who knows how the second match will follow this time.

 

T&T has five players in its team with experience playing in the USA. Defender Thomas is a former Colorado Rapids player, Glen is a former New York/New Jersey Metrostars, LA Galaxy and Columbus Crew forward, Makan Hislop played for the University of South Carolina, Andre Toussaint is a former Charleston Battery member from last season, So too is Anthony Wolfe formerly  of Atlanta Silverbacks, Julius James is now a regular with MLS outfit Toronto FC.

 

USA’s Clint Dempsey, the lone scorer against Cuba, fancies his chances of scoring more against T&T in his team’s first home game of the semi-final round.

 

'I think we're moving in the right direction, and the goals will eventually come,' said Dempsey . 'The goals are there, and that's not something we're really worried about as a team. I think people will see more goals in this Trinidad game. I'm really looking forward to getting forward and having more of an attacking presence.'

 

Former T&T goalie Shaka Hislop, who will do commentary of the match on ESPN, met up with the team at Tuesday’s training at the match venue.

'The team is certainly playing with more confidence than they were a month and a half ago,' said Hislop. 'Maturana has shown that he's willing to make big decisions, and the team is playing better for it . [T&T] have a lot of young players who are very creative, but who also play with a confidence that quite frankly is a little bit alarming. I am hoping for a good, competitive game.”

 

Maturana, who will remember Colombia’s shock 2-1 loss to the hosts at the 1994 World Cup, is an optimist and will be looking to see his players rise to the call. He also has 20 injury free players to call upon.

 

“This game will be a challenge but all games are. We do not back down at anytime. Our team is prepared and hopefully we can put all the details together to play the game as we need to,” he said.

 

Wednesday’s game will be aired live on CNMG Channel 6 and Radio105 fm and I95.5fm. It is also going live on ESPN 2 and Galavision.

 

Teams

 

T&T: .Marvin Phillips – (W. Connection), Jan Michael Williams  (Ferencvaros), Makan Hislop  (United Petrotrin), Dennis Lawrence (Swansea City FC), Cyd Gray  (Clico San Juan Jabloteh),  Julius James (Toronto F.C), Keyeno Thomas (Joe Public F.C),.Aklie Edwards (Defence Force), Osei Telesford (Puerto Rico Islanders), Carlos Edwards (Sunderland FC), Anthony Wolfe (North East Stars), Densill Theobald (Caledonia AIA), Keon Daniel (United Petrotrin), Clyde Leon (W. Connection), Kerry Baptiste (Joe Public FC),  Andre Toussaint (W. Connection), Jason Scotland (Swansea City FC), Cornell Glen, Akeil Guevera (North East Stars), Gyasi Joyce (Caledonia AIA)

 

USA - Brad Guzan Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton FC), Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Danny Califf (FC Midtjylland), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Eddie Lewis (Los Angeles Galaxy), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Eddie Johnson (Cardiff City)

 

 

TTFF NEWS - 'Warriors' aim to bounce back in Windy City

 ‘Warriors’ aim to bounce back in Windy City
Issued by Shaun Fuentes, TTFF Media Officer in Chicago, September 8, 2008

Trinidad and Tobago's national footballers had their first training session under rainy conditions at the Toyota Park Training Pitch on Monday evening and spirits were on the rise again as they look ahead to Wednesday’s 2010 World Cup Qualifying match against United States at Toyota Park

T&T will have the services of defender Makan Hislop following his one match suspension but influential midfielder Dwight Yorke who captained the team in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Guatemala did not travel to Chicago and will not play on Wednesday..

Yorke met with Maturana on Saturday night after the match and indicated that he wanted to avoid any conflict in the matter, saying that it was best if injury be given as the  reason. However, while admitting he held high amount of respect for Sunderland manager Roy Keane, Yorke did inform the T&T management team that the Irish man had ordered his recall via a text message. It is understood that Keane wanted the player back in Sunderland before Thursday in order for selection for Saturdays Premiership clash away to Wigan Athletic.

Keane however made no request for Carlos Edwards’ early return. Edwards travels back to Sunderland on Thursday following the encounter with the USA a night earlier.

Defender Avery John is also out on a double yellow card suspension but Aklie Edwards returns from a four match suspension to fill that void in the left back position.

"We will play our game as we intend to which is to try to be positive and attempt to get the three points. No game is easy and circumstances change but you have to be ready and we will do our best to be ready for Wednesday," Maturana told TTFF media.

"Nothing is a guarantee in football but I believe that we can achieve anything once we go about it in the right way. This we will try to do especially after what for us was a disappointing way to end the game versus Guatemala," he added.

T&T midfielder Keon Daniel, scorer of three goals in T&T’s past two qualifying matches, said the “Soca Warriors” are not counting out the possibility of leaving Chicago with something to show on the points table.

“I think we were disappointed with the way the game ended on Saturday but the spirit isn’t down in the camp. As a matter of fact the guys are all feeling good and I feel we can pull something off on Wednesday. It’s going to be hard but the gap is closing and Wednesday will be a nice way to show it” Daniel said.

“My performance so far has been down to hard work and belief and I think I can say the same for the rest of the team. I don’t usually take shots from the outside but the coach has had me doing it a lot in training and I’m starting to believe more in myself. I got the ball, looked up and saw the chance and I went for it. The result was a goal but I felt too that I was responsible for Guatemala’s goal because of the tackle that led to their free kick even though I never touched the player but that’s how it goes. Hopefully we can make up for it.”

Wednesday’s game will be televised live on ESPN and former T&T goalkeeper Shaka Hislop is part of the commentary team. The match will also be broadcasted live on Radio 105 FM and I95.5fm.

US head coach Bob Bradley said he wants three points on Wednesday.

“It will be interesting to see how the results go on Wednesday. Obviously it will be our goal to get three points in our first home game for the round (against Trinidad and Tobago)” Bradley said after his team edged Cuba 1-0 in Havana on a Clint Dempsey 40th minute goal on Saturday.

On whether he is considering altering his two holding-midfielder strategy, he added :
”Again, in the movement of the game I don’t consider that they are both holding midfielders.  We encourage movement.  We encourage the idea that one can move out and join in [the attack], but when the ball turns over we feel that their ability to work together is important to make it difficult for the other team and to cut down on their chances.

“Like most teams in the world, we have attacking players who have the freedom to be moving and active, and we feel with Clint (Dempsey), DaMarcus Beasley) and Landon (Donovan) in those kinds of positions the idea is still that we can find them in good positions, get the right numbers and be dangerous.”

US captain Carlos Bocanegra also sees three points on Wednesday as nice cushion, saying “Two wins for us doesn’t get better than that, so that’s what we’re building on. We’re going home now to Chicago so we’re excited. If we get three more points there we’ll set ourselves up nice.”
   
T&T Squad in Chicago:Marvin Phillip (W Connection), Jan Michael Williams (Ferencvaros), Keyeno Thomas (Joe Public), Julius James (Toronto FC, Dennis Lawrence (Swansea City), Carlos Edwards (Sunderland), Cyd Gray (Clico San Juan Jabloteh), Keon Daniel (Petrotrin), Andre Toussaint (W Connection), Jason Scotland (Swansea), Cornell Glen (unattached), Anthony Wolfe (North East Stars), Densill Theobald (Caledonia), Clyde Leon (United Petrotrin), Osei Telesford (Puerto Rico Islanders), Kerry Baptiste (Joe Public), Akeil Guevera (North East), Gyasi Joyce (Caledonia AIA), Makan Hislop (United Petrotrin), Aklie Edwards (Defence Force).

CFU NEWS - Havelange tours the Centre of Excellence... recommends one for Concacaf President

Havelange tours the Centre of Excellence

Issued on September 4, 2008

Former FIFA President Dr Joao Havelange says that if he had his way he would have a prized facility similar to the Centre of Excellence named in honour of Concacaf President Jack Warner for his longstanding service in world football.

Havelange made the comment during media briefing after a half hour tour of the multi-purpose Centre of Excellence facility on Thursday morning. Havelange along with is personal assistant Marcel Citherlet were given a walk through of the venue by Warner and facility CEO Ken Emrith and the Brazilian-born, at age 92, moved through briskly  and took notice of the various halls and sporting amenities including the Marvin Lee Stadium.

He also met various staff members and willingly posed for photographs, expressing his pleasure in making his first visit to Trinidad in twelve years in particular since the numerous upgrades of the facility.

Havelange told  the media that he was not surprised to see the high level of the Centre of Excellence because he knew that  with it in Warner’s hands, the FIFA Vice President would settle for nothing less. Then when asked on his thoughts on something similar in Warner’s honour, Havelange replied : “If I were still in the position of President (of FIFA) I would definitely look to the possibility of naming one in the name of Jack Warner for what he contributed to the game and its development. He deserves it. There should be one for him.”

“I am very, very surprised. I shouldn’t have been surprised knowing Jack Warner as I have – one excellent President and administrator. But everything I saw I never expected to have seen here today. This place is a benefit to Concacaf. It was the passion of Jack Warner that made this. I am very happy to have witnessed the completion of the dream of Jack Warner. I don’t believe that other Confederations can offer what Concacaf can offer to its members and all this we owe to one person – Jack Warner, his tenacity, his loyalty and also to his wish to offer to the region one Centre of this quality. I am very happy to have a friend like Jack Warner, a President as he has demonstrated. The years shall go by and we shall always applaud Jack Warner,” Havelange added

Warner expressed appreciation to Havelange for coming to share in the TTFF’s celebration of its Centennial.

“Dr Havelange is 92-years-old and the TTFF is one hundred years and the best gift he could have given us here is his presence. I want to express to him our deep thanks and appreciation. I pledge we will always honour his name, the name given to his facility by keeping it all times – The Centre of Excellence.”

Havelange is also a member of the International Olympic Committee and is currently the longest serving active member.

Warner was also at the Piarco International Airport on Thursday evening to welcome FIFA President Sepp Blatter, General Secretary Jerome Valcke, UEFA President Michel Platini and English FA Chairman Lord David Triesman who has a dual role as chairman of the FA's World Cup bid company and will head for the Caribbean after a first stop at UEFA's Super Cup in Monaco, where Manchester United played Zenit St Petersburg.
Blatter meantime, will go off to South Africa next week. South African organisers of the 2010 World Cup said on Thursday they were upbeat about his visit to "showcase" the progress made in preparing for the event.
Blatter will on September 14 begin a four-day visit to South Africa, during which he would visit World Cup facilities in the major cities of Johannesburg and Cape Town, World Cup Local Organising Committee (LOC) chief Danny Jordaan said.

"We have made tremendous progress and we hope to showcase this progress to him during his September 14 to 17 visit. We also hope he will be very impressed with the lot of progress we have made," Jordaan said.