WALTER ALIBEY
Senior Multimedia Reporter
walter.alibey@guardian.co.tt
Despite a 3-0 defeat expectedly at the hands of a vastly experienced Bolivian team in an international friendly match at home on Sunday, T&T’s interim football coach Derek King is pleased with what he saw. He said, “We did well.”
As the T&T team enters the FIFA Series, where it is scheduled to face Venezuela on March 27 and later Gabon on March 30 in Uzbekistan, King, appointed as a quick-fix replacement for Dwight Yorke after a failed FIFA World Cup Qualifying campaign, led a youthful team in Santa Cruz to face the Bolivians as part of a rebuilding programme to make the team competitive.
King was one of the assistant coaches under Yorke who saw the T&T team fail to come out of a final-round qualifying group that comprised Bermuda, Jamaica and Curacao. At the Ramon Tahuichi Aguilera Stadium in Santa Cruz, on Sunday, King’s men defended stoutly for most of the match as the home team dominated possession and attacked the T&T goal area regularly.
“I think, firstly, we were a bit naive in the sense that we didn’t put down the football and play. As I told the guys when we were at home, it was always going to be difficult as we prepared for the playoff game. For the first 20 minutes, as I told them, we had to stay in the game. I think we allowed a soft goal; I believe it was in the 22nd minute, but all in all, I think the guys did well,” King said.
“It was a very young team we brought here. Five players made their debut today, but we saw some positives in the game coming from some young players. Our senior guys, our captain, Andre Rampersad, and our young centre-back, Adam Pierre, were decent. What we tried to do was, as I told them, after we made some adjustments in the system, we came out and tried to focus only on football. I think we created at least one or two chances.
Before entering the match, King and his staff had just three days to put the team together, after Yorke and the parent T&T Football Association agreed mutually to part ways. Following the FIFA Series, the T&T team will contest the Concacaf Nations League later this year – September 21 - October 6, 2026 (four matches max), November 8 - 16 (two matches max), and March 22 - 30, 2027 (two matches max).
King believes the players received some much-needed experience that will augur well for the team in future matches. “It was a good game because it exposed the younger players and showed them the physical demands of an international football team. We just had three days with this bunch here. It was a new bunch, a young bunch. This is where you get that experience and expose the players. They did well. As I told the players, in international football, one mistake will cost you, so we all have to keep ourselves at a standard. We made three mistakes, and it cost us the game as well.”
“I think they are a very good team. I like the intensity from the guys and the maturity from us. They invited us to come and play a game before they had a playoff game. I would also like to wish them the best in the field,” King concluded.
