Guyana National Team head coach Jamaal Shabazz believes that the time is right for Trinidad and Tobago to see its immediate future in football as the ideal opportunity to have continuity by engaging in a full fledge and properly orchestrated program that can see the country’s national teams rise again to the top of Caribbean football and become a respected opponent in Concacaf.
Shabazz was speaking prior to Guyana’s training session at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on Monday morning and shortly after embracing some members of the T&T team coaching staff with whom he has had a previous work relationship.
“Unlike a lot of people I don’t think it is the end for us but rather a start we can now focus on. The Under 23 team is quite talented and it’s time to put more emphasis on them and youth football,” Shabazz told TTFF Media.
“But not because Trinidad and Tobago is out means that we should shut down the national team program. All it means is for us now is to focus on the younger, upcoming players using every one of the FIFA dates because we have seen how not doing that can affect our program.”
He mentioned that he is still very much interested in remaining as a coordinator of the TTFF Coaching education programs, a position he held for the past year working alongside Anton Corneal and other local instructors in conjunction with the Dutch Royal Academy.
“Actually I am still the coordinator of the coach education program for the TTFF which is not as if I am holding a coaching position but I am helping with the education of coaches for the C license program. Of course the way the Guyana situation has evolved now they want to sit down with me and discuss something long term. However I remain committed to being part of the coaching education program with the TTFF and helping in all the ways that I can. It is not a divorce situation with Trinidad and Tobago and I look forward to the future,” added the Caledonia AIA man.
Regarding his success with Guyana, Shabazz commented: “We are showing that we have learned from people who came here like Leo Beenhakker, Rene Simoes, Even Pellerud. I think we have a lot of coaches who are coming a long way. For the rest of the Caribbean like St Vincent, St Lucia, Grenada, Guyana we are at the point where it can happen for us.
"The fact that Guyana knocked Trinidad and Tobago out of a World Cup means that Trinidad and Tobago most likely didn’t deserve to be here. There is a perception that we are so far ahead of the rest of the Caribbean which is no longer true. I think Anton Corneal out it quite well where in terms of passion and desire our players are lacking. Coaches can’t coaching passion and desire. The rest of the region is getting more and more hungry for success because they see what going to a World Cup has done for Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago,” Shabazz added.