Belgium-based defender Sheldon Bateau received plaudits from national senior football coach Stephen Hart for his work rate and efforts in this country's 1-0 defeat to Panama at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva on Friday.
Bateau spearheaded the T&T defence which was received a stern test from a strong Panamanian attacking force.
"He was quite good tonight (Friday). I was pleased with his work rate and the effort he put in all game," Hart said.
Bateau is playing in the top flight of Belgium football with KV Mechelen and later encouraged his local-based teammates to put in more work if they want to maintain their stay at the senior international level.
"You've got to do more than you usually do on and off the field," he said.
"When I got on to the national team, my life changed and when I got into Europe, it changed again. It's a totally different level you have to do things differently if you want to stay here and keep improving. Train more, listen more and focus on becoming better in each session and every game. You will have rough patches but that's all part of it. Now that some of the new players have gotten their chance with the national team, it's time to raise their levels and keep on striving."
Bournemouth boss says Jones is a big presence
Kenwyne Jones is believed to be the man who will play a vital role in Bournemouth's charge towards the English Premiership at the end of this season. This is according to Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe who spoke about the T&T captain following his loan move to the club from Cardiff City last week.
Jones has been Cardiff's leading scorer with 13 goals in 36 matches but has gone scoreless in his last 10 appearances. The Cherries completed the loan signing of the T&T striker ahead of the loan window closing. Jones was Cardiff's top goalscorer this season with 13 goals in 36 appearances, despite currently being on a run without a goal in ten outings. Howe said the move to bring Jones was well thought out and worth it.
"With the number of games we have to go and with Callum's (Wilson) injury against Middlesbrough and the tightness of the division, so with loads of things taken into consideration, we thought it was wise to bring in a striker, To get one of Kenwyne`s experience and quality, I'm delighted with the signing. We hope he can have a big impact," said Howe
"I think he is different. He's a big presence, he's a big strong lad, he knows where the goal is and technically he is good as well which is always important for us.
"I just think he's an option to have at a key stage of the season for us, and if he can inspire us to more points then I think it will be well worth bringing him in," Howe added.
Bournemouth are currently top of the Championship table with 73 points from 39 matches, one point ahead of second placed Watford.
Eve's delight with FA triumph
Former national senior captain Angus Eve was in high spirits on the weekend after capturing a title he achieved as a player in the past. Eve led North East Stars to the TTFA FA Trophy title when his team downed W Connection on penalty kicks on Sunday at the Ato Boldon Stadium. It was Eve's first FA Trophy success as a head coach having won it as a player with three different teams.
"I've won this title as a player in the past with Petrotrin, Jabloteh and Defence Force so it's a great feeling to also win it as a coach now. We've been having a three year project since I went up to North East to try to bring back some respectability to the club and winning is part of this process so it's a great feeling to win and this is one of the major titles we've had," Eve said.
Eve utilised midfielders Dwane James and Neveal Hackshaw in Sunday's encounter, two players who made their senior international debuts for T&T in a 1-0 loss to Panama a couple days earlier. "I heard the national coach saying that the local players need to be a bit more fit and our guys definitely showed they are fit in the final. We had a total local team and we played right down to the end. We played much of the match with ten men and our guys were still standing at the end. We didn't drop off and we continued to press. We wanted to win this title and the effort our team gave today was tremendous," Eve said.
Gomez tips T&T for Gold Cup
Panama head coach Hernan Dario Gomez had a few encouraging word for the T&T senior men's team following his side's 1-0 victory in Friday's friendly international in Couva.
Gomez said he was somewhat surprised at T&T's display in certain moments of the match and believes they can progress towards having a strong showing at the Concacaf Gold Cup in July.
"It's a game in which we did very important things in the first half. In the second half we had a mis-performance because we lost a lot of control of the game The pitch was kind of complicated with the wetness and it was difficult for Panama to make a better game in the second half."
"I like the way T&T was playing. They are very strong and fast team and they had some very good moments in the game which could have been dangerous for us. There are no favourites these days. Usually 1-0 is very level kind of score. I believe T&T will have a great Gold Cup with Panama with the way they are playing."
n Shaun Fuentes is the Director of Communications for the TTFA– shaunfuentes@yahoo.com