T&T Under-20 footballers came face-to-face with their Italian counterparts upon arrival at the Fairimont Hotel in Cairo yesterday, as both teams settled in for their live-in camp for the remaining two games in Group A of the Fifa Under 20 World Championship.
First class accommodation for its teams by Fifa for its second highest competition would no doubt have left the T&T contingent in some form of comfort, despite the still-evident disappointment of the opening 4-1 loss to Egypt on Thursday. There were words of encouragement though as even some Egyptians at the hotel could be heard welcoming the young “Soca Warriors” with words of “Well played” and “Unlucky game.”
Goalscorer Jean Luc Rochford would know though that when luck doesn’t go your way, more has to be done to grind out positive results, especially when coming up against some of the best.
And that is what T&T will face on Monday when they face Italy. Fifa President Sepp Blatter slammed some of the European clubs for not releasing its stars for the tournament but despite Italy being without the likes of Roma’s Stefano Okaka Chuka, who scored a Serie A goal at just 16, as well as Genoa’s Silvano Raggio Garibaldi, almost all its players in Egypt are attached to Serie A and Serie B clubs.
“It’s going to be difficult but we expect all the games to be difficult,” Rochford said. “The first game was not easy either but we went out there and competed well and I felt we were a bit unlucky, two chances off the post, a couple soft goals for them including one which bounced off Jake’s (Thomson) back,” added the Joe Public midfielder.
The 50-odd T&T fans were lost in the partizan crowd at the Egyptian Army Stadium, but Rochford said he saw his father and the other parents mere moments before his goal. “We were looking for them before the game because that is always a bit comforting in such an atmosphere and I just happened to look up when I had to go for a corner a couple minutes earlier.
I don’t really focus on scoring goals but when it happens I’m thankful. When I scored the goal, Sean (De Silva) told me I ran straight pass him and my first thought was to go and signal to our fans. Scoring in a tournament like this and against the hosts too felt really good, maybe a feeling I can’t even describe. The goal was for my family and of course the fans back home.
“We still feel disappointed a day after the loss but we have two more games to look forward to. We have to prepare and get everything in place for Italy,” he added Rochford also netted in T&T’s 2-2 draw with Nigeria in Abuja earlier this year.
Forward Juma Clarence, who came on in the second half and added some force up front for T&T, with two efforts hitting the woodwork and one which forced goalie Aly Lotfi to save well. He thought his first goal in the tournament would have been there to celebrate on the night. “I really thought I could have scored. It would have been nice to score in the opening game.
I was ready and confident to go on the field at the time of the signal from the coach. My aim was to get a goal a game but it didn’t happen and now I’ve got to try and make up in the next two games. As a team we have to keep working hard and not lose focus or give up,” Clarence said.
T&T head coach Zoran Vranes and assistant Anton Corneal attended the Italy/Paraguay encounter yesterday while the rest of the team took in the action at the hotel prior to a late evening practice session.