“SOCA WARRIORS” interim coach, Angus Eve revealed that there are some minor obstacles hampering the fluent training of the national team ahead of Sunday’s international friendly match against Finland at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, from 5pm.
The former national player admitted that due to the ongoing Pro League, players were not getting the required amount of training together.
“We’re not in the best position at the moment but I’m certain that things will work out for the benefit of the national team, the Pro League and the players. It’s simply because the Pro League has scheduled matches on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays and players are just not getting the right opportunity to train together,” stated Eve.
He mentioned that since the Police football club and Defence Force were involved in the Pro League, a lot more players were missing out on preparation for the Finland encounter.
The former national midfielder went on to reiterate the importance of training together and maintaining a steady flow of communication between the players on the field of play.
“While it’s not a major issue, we have to ensure that players get their chance to play together so they can perform as a unit on the field. We also want to show the public that we have a national initiative going to keep the squad together. We don’t want people to think that we don’t have ongoing programmes for our national players to play and train together,” added Eve.
On Sunday, Trinidad and Tobago will be playing Finland with a mixture of players. The national Under-23 coach stated that this was an opportunity for the younger athletes to step-up their game and seal a spot on the “Soca Warriors” squad.
“We do hope to see a high standard of enthusiasm from the younger players. This is their chance to play for the jersey and is surely not any other normal game for them.
I know that there is great passion in some of our younger players and this would be the stage for them to display their talent and give Trinidad and Tobago a good showing. It really is a rebuilding stage for all of us and we expect them to deliver,” continued the ex- Ma Pau coach.
Eve, who has 117 caps, expect a keenly contested game against Finland who are also in the rebuilding stages.
“We haven’t seen Finland play in a while but that does not put them out of contention for an exciting game of football. We know they have some good players and just like us, they’re also attempting to regain their composure on the Europeans stage as we are for the Caribbean.
Trinidad and Tobago will be sending some players on the field for their first international encounter ever and we think they will have a good showing for us. This is a chance for the country to unite once more and go out there and play our local brand of football,” concluded Eve.