Trinidad and Tobago Under 20 goalkeeper Glenroy Samuel has challenged his attacking teammates to live up to the expectations and hype they create during practice sessions whenever head coach Zoran Vranes puts them through shooting drills.
T&T have scored just one goal in three outings so far on tour with Qian Grosvenor being the lone scorer in Saturday’s 3-1 loss to the Koreans. Samuel has conceded four goals in the two matches he has appeared in but must be admired for his stance between the uprights dating back to the CONCACAF Under 20 qualifiers. But his words to starting strikers Grosvenor and Trent Lougheed, as well as back ups Daniel Joseph and Juma Clarence, was to hit the target more when it really matters.
“In training they are always ready to let go bullets on me and they have me going all over to try and save. They want to mash me up in training when coachman watching but in the games, they hardly even troubling the ‘keepers,” Samuel told TTFF Media.
“It hard to create chances on this tour because the other teams real tight and playing good at the back but we getting a few chances and ‘them’ strikers not making the ‘keepers save. When we play these big teams and you getting chances that is the time to ‘let go pipe’ and make it hard for them. If we don’t do it then it’s making it harder for us defending against them,” Samuel went on.
He has been working feverishly with Goalkeeper coach and former T&T youth custodian Jefferson George having come out of the Under 17 ranks where former national senior team goalie Ross Russell was the man guiding him.
“The training is real good, especially now with the World Cup coming up. I will do my best always and God spare life I will go Egypt with this national team,” Samuel added.
Despite Samuel’s plea for better finishing, Grosvenor is optimistic that the T&T forwards will make better use of their chances on goal.
“It was good to get the goal yesterday because it raised my confidence level and the team started playing better. I think even though we haven’t been scoring much, once we continue to work hard and focus on improving our finishing then things will get better for us,” Grosvenor added.
And with captain Leston Paul and midfield companion Sean De Silva now considered the two more senior players on the team at the moment, particularly after their recent stint with the T&T Senior Team, a lot more is expected of them on and off the field of play.
“I think it has to start from the back and we have to work forward from there. We have made some simple mistakes in defence which has cost us. Once we can tidy things up at the back and play faster and more composed, then we will perform better and get good results,” Paul said.
And De Silva thinks the location in Seoul couldn’t have come at a better time for his team’s workouts.
“The facilities here are amazing. It’s the perfect place for us to prepare and hopefully by the time we leave here we would have come away a stronger and better team. We know the games are tough but the experience and the training is what matters most right now,” De Silva said.
T&T will depart or Nigeria on Tuesday for two more warm up internationals against that country’s National Under 20 team and one more against a professional club.
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