National coach Dwight Yorke made an earlier than usual start to his preparations ahead of the coming World Cup Qualifying matches against Jamaica and Bermuda at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo on November 13 and 18, with a practice match against a local T&T Premier Football League All Star XI against the T&T team, which ended 2-2.
Since the closure of Major League Soccer (MLS), where several T&T overseas players are based, Yorke pulled together the players to ensure they maintained their fitness levels ahead of the matches. However, hopes of using the grandparent's law, which was given a nod of approval recently, has turned out to be more frustrating than once expected. Despite feverish attempts to recruit players, they have not yet had any success.
Yorke said they are currently attempting to secure a player he wants to use for Thursday, when the country takes on Jamaica in an expectedly high-intensity encounter.
“That’s been a bit frustrating from our point of view. We’re still trying vigorously to get something through the door. The team behind the scenes is working extremely hard to get an individual across the line for the game on Thursday. Whether we can pull it off, it’s really a touch-and-go scenario, because we’ve only just found out that it's just been granted, the grandparent's law.”
Yorke did not say who the player is or what position he plays; however, he signalled his intent to continue his search for players, both locally and internationally. In the 2-2 tie, the speedy Tyrese Spicer scored a double, while Jaheim Faustin, son of former ‘Strike Squad’ Marvin Faustin, and Lindell Sween got the goals for the All-Stars team.
It is understood that Sween, who represents San Juan Jabloteh in Tier 1 of the TTPFL, has earned a recall to the training squad, along with other local players. With five points to their name, Yorke and his charges will need to beat Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz on Thursday and the Bermudans on November 18 to have a chance of advancing.
Still, with wins over Jamaica and Bermuda expected to take the country to 11 points, there is still a dependence on Bermuda to either hold Curacao to a draw or beat them in their last match.
Yorke told the media that the practice match is aimed at helping his team get the results in the coming matches.
“Most of the MLS players, who are a big bulk of our squad, did not have the opportunity to play as much because of the MLS closure. So we found it appropriate to get them together as quickly as possible and make sure to keep that fitness up. A game of this magnitude is just to give them another game, because two and a half weeks without playing football is a long time, and asking them to step up to play in an international game is always going to be a big challenge for some of the boys.”
“It’s fortunate that we can gather the players, so we’re going to try and make the most of it, especially as we’ve been training all week behind closed doors to make sure and try and keep the fitness. We also felt it was important to have the players get a game in and keep that momentum going. That’s all part of the process,” Yorke assured.
According to the former Manchester United striker, now turned coach, “It’s fantastic, where we are. We’ve just come off an unbeaten run in terms of the two away games. I’m sure there is some disappointment that we didn’t get maximum points, but anybody who tells you that at the international level you go away to play two games, and you get four points, will not be everybody’s cup of tea, but that is quite a good return.
“We’ve got to try and build on that, and we know the significance of the Jamaica game. There is no hiding place, I’ve always said that. We’ll have home advantage, we’ve got a fantastic record here, certainly under my reign, and we’ll be trying to add to that. Jamaica will not be a pushover by any means, so we need to be at our best to show that we have closed the gap on Jamaica. Despite the result in the last game, we feel as a unit that we can get a victory here come Thursday,” Yorke concluded.
