Soccer is a worldwide sport and some of that international flavor has found its way to Calvert County as the Trinidad and Tobago Southern National Football (soccer) 19-U men’s team will be in the county until mid-August.
The team, which is being hosted by the Calvert Soccer Association (CSA) Select youth soccer club, will also be helping out at a series of local soccer camps.
Trinidad and Tobago, which last year traveled to Surinam for a series of exhibition matches, is comprised of players ages 16 to 19.
The team is one of four — North, East and Central are the others –– in the Trinidad and Tobago area.
‘‘They were very excited [when we invited them] because soccer in Trinidad and Tobago is developing very fast, therefore they wanted to come in and play at a high level,” said CSA technical director Myron Garns, whose parents are from the country, which lies in the Caribbean Sea. ‘‘We told them we could supply them with some very good games and they were excited to get here.”
‘‘We felt we had to expose our players to international competition,” said Isa Mohammad, the technical director for Trinidad and Tobago and the country’s former national coach. ‘‘I’m impressed with the level of play I’ve seen from the high schools. I think they’re a little more advanced, especially in two areas; the first touch and the pass-and-move.”
The team suffered a 6-0 defeat last Friday in the opening game of the Calvert Beach International Invitational Cup and faced Southern Maryland Futsal on Saturday evening.
Pregame ceremonies featured the playing of both country’s national anthems and handshakes as well as both teams’ rosters.
While there was plenty of sportsmanship beforehand, when the whistle blew it was down to business.
Like the lightning that periodically flashed over the north end of the field, the visitors demonstrated lightning-quick speed and nifty playmaking to open up a quick 2-0 lead.
‘‘We play a kind of fast football,” Trinidad and Tobago coach Kendel Crawford said. ‘‘I knew they were starting off pretty slow, so I made sure to put some of our faster players in.”
‘‘They like to get on the board as quick as they can because they have some speed up top,” said Futsal’s John Greely, a Leonardtown graduate. ‘‘They’re very good competitors. They’re very young, they’re pretty quick and they’re very direct in the way they play.”
But before the half had ended, Futsal had scored three unanswered goals, the third on an own goal, to grab a 3-2 advantage.
While Trinidad and Tobago showed the opposition and spectators something with their feet, they also proved rapier-like wit with their mouths.
When a Futsal player was whistled for being offside and questioned the call, a Trinidad and Tobago player was quick to respond.
‘‘You didn’t know?” he asked with a smile, ‘‘Now you know.”
Midway through the second half, Christopher Seepersad raced down the right side and beat Futsal keeper Mike Schifflett with a low shot to tie the match.
With about 15 minutes remaining in regulation time, the game was called after a particularly close lightning strike.
‘‘After the first game [a 6-0 loss] we watched the tape and knew we had to make some adjustments,” Trinidad and Tobago’s Adrian Dingwell said. ‘‘The team came out and everybody fight hard to get the job done.”
‘‘[Their level of play] was a little better than I thought, to be honest with you,” said Futsal’s Alan Oliver on the visitor’s level of play. ‘‘They’re pretty strong and fast up top. For a young team they have a pretty good structure.”
J.D. Kershaw, who will enter his senior year at Severna Park High School and is already committed to Gardner-Webb (N.C.) University agreed with his teammates’ assessment of the Trinidad and Tobago unit.
‘‘These guys are good; they’re real fast, real technical and physical,” Kershaw said. ‘‘It was their speed that got them their goals.”
Dingwell said sportsmanship was a big part of the game, which ended with hugs and handshakes.
‘‘Always, always fair play,” he said. ‘‘We made sure to give love to the other team.”
‘‘It was a very exciting game to watch,” said Garns, who hopes to bring back Trinidad and Tobago as well as add a team from England next year. ‘‘It’s really great to host an international team and hopefully we can continue doing that in the future.”