Leslie Joel Russell played in each of Trinidad and Tobago’s three matches at the Pan American Games and explained that understanding roles was the key to the team’s solid defensive performance in their three games against Mexico, Ecuador and Uruguay.
His teammates at the back included Kareem Moses, Aquil Selby, Joevin Jones with Mekeil Williams and Sheldon Bateau also in the mix.
“We worked really hard in every session to ensure we could go out there and get the job done. We know it was going to be difficult to contain teams like Mexico so we had to put in the extra effort.
I think most teams expected us to concede a lot of goals here so we knew if we could hold them then we would have a chance,” Russell said.
“I personally have been working hard to try and understand my role as a defender better and then to put into action on the field.
We have some way to go still but we are improving with every session and every game and our aim is to contain the other team for as long as possible and give ourselves the chance of getting a winning result.”
Assistant coach Derek King, a former defender with the T&T senior team, added that persistence has been paying off for the T&T backline crew.
“The guys have been trying very hard to understand the game more and with my experience as a defender I think I’ve been able to get the message and the instructions over to them,” King said.
“It’s a process but they are soaking it in and in every session they are willing to try different methods and different systems as it relates to the overall team performance. This is a good thing for us we look ahead to the rest of Olympic campaign.”