“PRIOR TO this (call up), Super League players didn’t have a chance. I hope this would open the window.” Trinidad and Tobago Super League leading goalscorer Keron Clarke was elated to receive his maiden call-up to the provisional Trinidad and Tobago men’s football team, who will be preparing for a friendly international against Ecuador on July 26 in Guayaquil.
The FC Santa Rosa attacker has already bagged seven goals so far this season, including an immensely impressive hat-trick against Club Sando Moruga and is hoping that his form continues into his time with the national team.
“I’m off to a flyer right now! The goals are coming in and hopefully the form will overflow into the national team stint,” a brimming Clarke said in a story on the Super League website.
He continued, “Last season was a bit tougher, the goals were few and far between. But this season has been good and I just want to thank God. It’s only through him that I have the talent and everything.
“And now, it’s a privilege just to get a call up…just even to be considered.” Clarke has been a dominant force at the heart of FC Santa Rosa’s chase to win back-to-back league titles.
FC Santa Rosa founder and coach Keith Look Loy was equally ecstatic at his captain’s call-up and even more so, what it represents in terms of opportunities for players in the Super League.
“This is huge for the club and the TTSL,” commented Look Loy. “It validates the work of the former and heightens the status and image of the latter. I anticipate more TTSL players breaking through.” These sentiments were echoed by Clarke, who sees himself as setting the foundation and becoming an inspiration for younger players in the TT Super League to aim to achieve similar opportunities.
“I want all of the Super League players, staff, coaches, everybody and especially the younger players to use this as an opportunity,” said Clarke.
“Prior to this (call-up), Super League players didn’t have a chance. I hope this would open the window, especially for younger players to work towards…who might have a chance at a career (in football).” The 31-year-old Clarke continued, “the barrier that was holding back Super League players seems to be going.
“I just hope that everybody recognises this and use this as an opportunity.” Lawrence has also received glowing praise from the members of the TT Super League community for Clarke’s call-up with many labelling the inclusion as surprising, but bold and refreshing.
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Clarke elated by Warriors call-up.
T&T Guardian Reports.
Keron Clarke, the FC Santa Rosa goal scorer who never thought he would have been called to the T&T team, is now elated by the call-up, thanks partly to the banner of the new T&T Super League (T&TSL).
A release from the T&TSL said: “Prior to this call-up, super league players didn’t have a chance. I hope this would open the window.”
Clarke, whose goalscoring form this season which included a hat-trick against Club Sando Moruga, could be an asset to coach Dennis Lawrence’s unit once he can continue scoring goals.
The T&T team is desperate for goals and points in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers with three points from six matches. The Soca Warriors will next face Honduras at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva, on September 1 before taking on Panama on September 5 at the Estadio Rommel Fernandez Stadium in Panama City.
Lawrence’s men have just one international friendly encounter against Ecuador at the end of this month (July 26) in Guayaquil, Ecuador, to fine tune for the qualifiers.
Clarke, the only player from the super league to have impressed Lawrence enough to earn a call-up, is on a provisional 25-man squad that includes eight players who were on the roster for the USA and Costa Rica matches in June and others who have not represented the country in a few years.
Contacted, Clarke said: “I’m off to a flyer right now! The goals are coming in and hopefully the form will overflow into the national team stint. Last season was a bit tougher, the goals were few and far in between. But this season has been good and I just want to thank God. It’s only through him that I have the talent and everything.”
He believes it is a privilege to just be considered, much less be called to represent your country.
Clarke has been a dominant force at the heart of FC Santa Rosa’s attempt to win back-to-back league titles and the ‘Big Cannons’, as Santa Rosa is popularly called, are currently second on the standing. They were scheduled to be in action yesterday for a chance to change that.
FC Santa Rosa’s founder and coach Keith Look Loy was equally ecstatic at his captain’s call-up as he believes it represented an opportunity for super league players to represent their country at the highest level.
According to Look Loy: “This is huge for the club and the TTSL. It validates the work of the former and heightens the status and image of the latter. I anticipate more TTSL players breaking through.”
These sentiments were echoed by Clarke, who sees himself as setting the foundation and becoming an inspiration for younger players in the TT Super League to aim to achieve similar opportunities.
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