National senior men's team defender Radanfah Abu Bakr has alluded to the strong influence of head coach Stephen Hart on the recent progress made by the "Soca Warriors".
Abu Bakr was a regular feature in the T&T team during the recent Concacaf Gold Cup during which the team produced a valiant effort in their impressive run to the quarterfinals where they were eliminated in a penalty shootout defeat to Panama.
Two weeks after the team's campaign, Abu Bakr is now back in Denmark with his club HB Koge where he has another 18 months left on his contract.
But while he remains somewhat disappointed that the T&T team did not make it to the final of the competition, he touched on the positives which he believes will lead the team to higher heights during the World Cup qualifying campaign for 2018 which begins in November.
"The squad was considerably younger and less experienced this time around compared to the 2013 Gold Cup. Even some of the guys who've been around the national team for a while like Ataulla Guerra, Lester Peltier and Yohance Marshall, were all in their first Gold Cup. That meant that I had to assume more of the tacit responsibilities like keeping the guys focused and motivated," Abu Bakr said.
"Coach Hart always gives us his confidence and I think this time we turned that confidence into genuine belief in ourselves that we could go far in the tournament. For me that was probably the biggest difference," said the ex-Caledonia AIA player when asked to comment on Hart's influence.
"Overall I'm pleased, but at the same time very disappointed that we didn't go further. The tournament was an invaluable experience, particularly for the many young guys in the squad. Despite not having had the best preparation, we showed that we could compete with the best in the region. We surprised many, and we can be proud of what was achieved. However, that's in the past now and there's that recognition that there are aspects of our game that can improve.
"We want to take that momentum into the qualifiers, and continue to build on those performances. We have the Mexico friendly in September, but it's crucial that we get games on the other FIFA dates. With the right preparation and support, especially from corporate T&T, I'm confident that we will do really well. We just need to take one game at a time, as we did in the Gold Cup, focus on our individual and collective performances, and the results will take care of themselves."
Matouk eager forupcoming CFU Finals
Having played a key role in getting the T&T Under-20 women's team to the Final Round of the Caribbean U-20 World qualifiers, national team forward Maya Matouk is focusing her energies on the next phase which will see T&T contest the Finals in Haiti in a few weeks time. T&T will be looking to qualify for the Concacaf Final Round in Honduras in December for which already four teams are through to including the United States, Canada, Mexico and the hosts. The two finalists and the winners of the third place playoff will advance to the 2016 Fifa Women's U-20 World Cup in Papua New Guinea.
At the CFU Finals eight teams will be divided into two groups from which the top three teams will advance to compete in the Concacaf Women's U-20 Championship.
Matouk, a student at University of Tampa, scored a double in a 6-0 thrashing of Dominica last month in St Vincent and the Grenadines.
The team is coached by Jason Spence and some of the key performers thus far include Tsaianne Leander, Amaya Ellis, captain Renee Mike, Zoe Swift and Shaunalee Govia.
"Scoring goals for my country is always a tremendous achievement. Seeing the ball in the back of the net gave me the most exhilarating feeling. If you ever played a game for your country and got the opportunity to score goals you will understand the satisfaction. Going into the next rounds, I am definitely looking forward to playing to the best of my ability and hopefully scoring more goals," Matouk said.
Boucaud honoured by captain role
T&T midfielder Andre Boucaud says he is deeply honoured by the responsibility given to him at English League two club Dagenham & Redbridge which will see him captaining the club for the upcoming season.
Boucaud joins a shortlist of T&T players to be named captain of teams in England including Ian Cox (at Bournemouth) and Carlos Edwards at Ipswich Town among others.
"It's a huge honour for me and I'm deeply humbled by it," Boucaud said.
"This tells me that the club has noticed something in me and they believe I can lead the team. That in itself is a big show of confidence in me and I'll be looking to lead by example and hopefully see us through to a strong, solid season."
Boucaud scored T&T's second goal in their 2-0 win over Cuba to secure the quarterfinal spot at the Concacaf Gold Cup. He also converted his penalty during the shootout in the quarterfinal defeat to Panama in New Jersey.
"It was a good run for the team and now we have to focus on the World Cup qualifiers. I think it's good that there are players like myself with the experience along with guys like Kenwyne Jones and the other boys who can hopefully lead by example and inspire the team to more success under the guidance of coach Stephen Hart in the World Cup qualification," Boucaud said.
Chicago coach says Joevin close to being MLS best left back
Chicago Fire head coach Frank Yallop is backing Joevin Jones to becoming the best left back in American Major League Soccer (MLS). Yallop was speaking recently as he looked back at Jones' performance at the Concacaf Gold Cup for this country. Jones was an integral part of the team's strong run which saw them reach the quarterfinals. He delivered the left side corner which led to Yohance Marshall's brilliant last gasp equaliser in the 4-4 draw with Mexico.
"He's if not [the best] pretty close to being the best left back in the league," Yallop said.
"He had a good Gold Cup; he's pleased to be back with us. I think he looked a little bit tired the other night, but he's had a lot of travel, a lot of games, a lot of emotion that goes into a tournament, and I want to give him some time next week to gather his thoughts.
But hopefully he can a very good game on the weekend, and I think with him and David together they're pretty formidable down that side."
Jones said he was humbled by the experience of the Gold Cup.
"I think the Gold Cup was a learning experience for me but it was quite good because we were able to do well against teams like Mexico and Guatemala which we will face in the World Cup qualifiers. I intend to just keep learning and working hard. I want to keep improving and hopefully this will see me rising and doing well both for club and country," Jones said.
n Shaun Fuentes is the director of communications for the TTFA–shaunfuentes@yahoo.com