Defenceman Marvin Manswell will not be on the field in T&T’s opening match against host Egypt when the 2009 Fifa Under-20 World Cup kicks off tomorrow.
Neither will he be there for the remaining first round fixtures against Italy and Paraguay in other Pool A matches. Manswell, of bmobile Joe Public, picked up a knee injury in the national youngsters’ warm-up match against the United States on Friday in Aiya Napa, Cyprus.
He was the lone player missing when the final 21-man squad was submitted to Fifa for the tournament. When Dwight Yorke led T&T’s Under-20 team on the playing pitch at the Estadio Primeiro Maio Braga in Portugal for its first game of the 1991 tournament, there was a crowd of 1,720 which witnessed a 2-0 victory for Australia.
Tomorrow, Leston Paul will wear the captain’s armband and will lead the T&T team out before what is expected to be a crowd of 80,000 plus fans. How times have changed.
Around 50,000 tickets have been sold so far for this game but the local organising committee expects sales to hit the top on match day. According to a Fifa statement on Tuesday, it is expected that His Excellency the President Hosni Mubarak as well as Joseph S Blatter the Fifa President and Vice President Jack Warner will attend the match and grand opening ceremony.
Back in 1991, the T&T starting team that faced Australia in its first game included the likes of Anthony Sherwood, Michael McComie, Jerren Nixon, Angus Eve, Dean Pacheco, Shawn Boney, Kirk Trotman, Nigel Davidson, Kerwin Emmanuel, Dale Boucher and Yorke. Australia had in goal former Aston Villa keeper Mark Bosnich.
The “Aussies” won on goals by Paul Okon in the 52nd and David Seal in the 76th. T&T, under coach Bertille St Clair, subsequently went on to lose to Egypt 6-0 in its next game and then 4-0 to the Soviet Union.
Tomorrow, T&T will rely on the experience of Belgium-based pro Khaleem Hyland, German-based striker Jamal Gay, the agile Glenroy Samuel in goal, Jean Luc Rochford, Daneil Cyrus, Southampton midfielder Jake Thomson, defender Akeem Adams, strikers Qian Grosvenor and Juma Clarence, experienced defender Robert Primus, Sean De Silva and Paul among the others.
“We would love to make history and make up for what the team did not achieve in 1991. I think it was a great achievement getting to Portugal and Dwight Yorke and the others moved on to some good careers. We want to do the same but want to do even better,” Paul said yesterday.
“Maybe right now some of the boys are a little nervous but we will get over that by game time. We are focusing from now on the match because the coach has taught us how to get mentally ready and the session with Spencer Wood has helped us.
We will try our best to use what we have learnt in the sessions. A small T&T fan contingent of just over 50 people will be in the Stadium tomorrow to drum up some support for the young “Soca Warriors.”