When Touches take to the court at Waterfront in Kingston, Jamaica, over the weekend to contest the regional finals of the 2015 Guinness Street Football Challenge, the team will be aiming to script a piece of history.
Touches, who made a successful Guinness debut in 2012 by clinching the Northwest zonal crown, failed to fire in the national finals as Tobago champions Drifterz Answer Back took that honour and went on to secure a third-place finish at the regional finals in Guyana.
However, their two-year absence from the tournament proved to be a good luck charm as they returned this year to clinch the runner-up position behind Basic in the North-West zonal playoffs before going on to post 1-0 win over title favourites Jr Mafia in the national finals on June 13, at the Jean Pierre Complex in Port of Spain.
Speaking to the Express before the team’s departure for Jamaica tomorrow, manager Keeon Benito was very optimistic of his outfit’s chances.
“We are not going to Jamaica to participate but to bring back the title to T&T.
“We are a strong team as we have beaten some of the better teams in this year’s competition such as Tobago’s Drifterz Answer Back, current regional champion Chelsea and the big and bad Jr Mafia. So I believe we have everything required to achieve our goal.”
Benito said that some teams go to tournaments to participate but Touches are going with one thing on their mind, and that is to win.
Joining the cast of what is expected to be a star-studded line-up will be Guinness “Made of More” ambassador and former French international Marcel Desailly. The renowned rugged defender was a member of the French team that won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championships. He also captained France to victory in the 2001 Confederations Cup.
At club level, Desailly won UEFA Champions League titles with Marseille (1993) and AC Milan (1994) and then served as captain of Chelsea where he won an FA Cup title in 2000.
Speaking ahead of his appearance in Jamaica Desailly said,
“Whether you are playing, supporting your community or just coming out to enjoy the entertainment, this is a fantastic initiative of Guinness that has been growing year after year and something I’m so delighted to be involved in.”