He admits that the penalty miss in the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals still enters his mind on occasions but it's not a mishap that will deter Daniel Cyrus from breaking down opponents like Panama in what promises to be an intriguing Word Cup campaign coming up for the "Soca Warriors."
Cyrus' miss followed by a Panama conversion in sudden-death sent T&T out of the Gold Cup and today's international friendly in Panama City, while not a competitive one, could still be a fiercely contested affair as the hosts have indicated that they are taking nothing for granted in front of their home fans while Stephen Hart's men are licking their wounds as they gear up for the start of the CONCACAF semi-final round of qualification.
"Of course it's still on my mind from time to time and it allowed Panama to go through but it does not hold me back. It is not something that will worry me before I take the field against them tomorrow," Cyrus said yesterday in Panama City.
"These are things that make you stronger as a player and it teaches you valuable lessons as a player or an athlete."
The Tobago-born former national youth team forward turned defender is quietly confident of the team's chances in today's outing.
"I don't think they are a better team than us. They will be tough at home but we have showed we can play under pressure and keep ourselves in matches like we did against Mexico. And tough games away from home are what we need as we try to get ready for the World Cup qualifiers. I'm not afraid or worried. I think our team has what it takes to be strong and to advance.
"We will take the preparations seriously and hopefully the team will continue to improve in order to put up a strong challenge for World Cup qualification."
Cyrus will return with the T&T team tomorrow ahead of Tuesday's International friendly with Nicaragua at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo from 7 pm. T&T opens its CONCACAF World Cup semi-final round campaign away to Guatemala on November 13 before hosting the United States on November 17.
Childhood friends aim to turn from college players to pro
National Under-23 duo Xavier Rajpaul and Keane McIvor are both back into the starting teams with their respective teams in the United States Colleges set up, following situations which forced to sit out the game for some time.
Both Rajpaul and Keane were barred from playing for Howard University and Robert Morris University respectively, after the NCIA found it necessary to investigate their academic qualifications. The duo were subsequently cleared and were able to resume playing for their teams.
Rajpaul returned with a bang with a 40-yard stunner against University of Maryland Baltimore County (UBMC) which earned the number two spot on ESPN's "SportsCenter" Top 10.
Keane meantime is in his third year of college and transferred from Lindsey Wilson College in Kentucky. He scored an 80th minute game winner in his debut match before the three-week suspension followed. But Keane is now back playing again. Both players grew up playing together at St Ann's Rangers before making it onto the national U-17 and U-20 teams and earning late call ups to the U-23 team earlier this year. They are hoping to force their way into the professional football ranks within the next few months.
T&T Beachboys for Bahamas
T&T's national beach soccer team will take part in th Bahamas Football Association's Lucayan Cup Challenge this weekend alongside teams from Mexico and the host country.
The event is scheduled to be held from Friday to Sunday at the Beach Soccer Facility at Malcolm Park and will be sponsored by the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Heineken, Toyota and Bahamas Waste. It is part of Bahamas' phase of preparations for hosting the FIFA 2017 Beach Soccer World Cup
"A unique transformation will take place at Malcolm Park this weekend as the Bahamas men's national beach Soccer team go into action against CONCACAF champion Mexico and CFU T&T in the Lucayan Cup Challenge," said the BFA in a press release.
The T&T team has been in training for the last few weeks under head coach Benny Astorga. T&T takes on Mexico on Saturday and Bahamas the following day. Some of the players featuring in the squad include goalkeeper Zane Coker who was recently based in the Swiss League, Kevin Woodley, Kareem Perry, Chad Apoo and Lemuel Lyons.
Yorke thrilled by Martial
Dwight Yorke believes that French forward Anthony Martial is just what Manchester United have been crying out for under Louis van Gaal.
Yorke compared the player to himself in his younger days at Aston Villa, adding that he was impressed by the player's natural desire to run at opposing players.
Martial came off the bench to score on his Manchester United debut in a 3-1 win over Liverpool
"He's a big-money signing and a young lad. You'd think he would probably snatch at it but he slotted it in extremely well. I am delighted for him," added the ex-Manchester United standout.
�2 Shaun Fuentes is the director of communications for the TTFA. shaunfuentes@yahoo.com