Trinidad and Tobago U-23 players Jean Luc Rochford and Daneil Cyrus has joined Morvant/Laventille club Caledonia AIA for the upcoming season.
“We have acquired these two players because of our relationship with Santa Rosa FC who are bent on coming into the Pro League next year,” explained Caledonia boss Jamaal Shabazz.
“Both Santa Rosa and Caledonia stand for the same philosophy when it comes to giving young players the right opportunity,” added the Caledonia coach.
The 19 year-olds Rochford and Cyrus are both former Eldorado Secondary East players, and have also represented T&T at various youth levels including the U17 World Cup in Korea (2007) and U-20 World Cup in Egypt (2009).
“We are very excited to have two National players with us,” continued Shabazz. “I also feel very humble that they can choose little Caledonia over clubs with nuclear warheads. They are great additions and surely, they will be utilized.”
Rochford featured little for five-title winners Bmobile Joe Public last season before his contract expired in December.
The sturdy midfielder had a trial opening with Major League Soccer club Kanzas City Wizards following the 2009 season, however failure to obtain an American visa crushed the opportunity.
Rochford said choosing Caledonia had a lot to do with getting more playing time.
“I’ve played for Joe Public last season and we won titles, but I didn’t feature as much as I wanted,” explained Rochford. “I want more playing time to help me getting more recognized as a player. I’m also delighted to join Caledonia knowing that it’s a community club and now I am focused on helping my new club win titles.”
“I felt that I could go far with Caledonia,” said Daneil Cyrus who is also delighted to join Caledonia. “Caledonia play a much better brand of football locally and have a lot of good youth players like Nuru (Abdallah Mohammed) and others.”