Experienced midfielder Densill Theobald will captain this country’s Senior National Team in Wednesday’s friendly international against Peru at the Ato Boldon Stadium.
This was confirmed by head coach Hutson Charles on Saturday, on the eve of T&T’s live in training camp at the Holiday Inn Express with the first training session scheduled for 4pm at the Couva stadium.
Theobald has been the captain of the team in the past, during T&T’s campaign at the 2007 Caribbean Cup and the CONCACAF Gold Cup that same year. He has been given the armband for this friendly with Jan Michael Williams being left out of the squad.
Charles said he believed Theobald was the right man to lead the team, particularly with the level of maturity and leadership qualities he has shown over the past six months or so.
“We’ll give the armband to Densill because he is definitely one of the more experienced and inspirational players on the team right now. He demonstrated a lot of good qualities during the Caribbean Cup and was the vice-captain during the tournament,” Charles told TTFF Media.
“But while he may be carrying that armband, we have other leaders in the team… guys who bring a lot to the table and hopefully this can auger well for the team. We want the players to ensure there is support coming from all sides,” Charles added.
Some of other players in the squad who have worn the armband in the past include Kenwyne Jones and Carlos Edwards.
Other notable names in the T&T side for Wednesday’s affair include European-based trio Khaleem Hyland, Sheldon Bateau and Darryl Roberts as well as local forward Devorn Jorsling, midfielder Ataullah Guerra and defender Carlyle Mitchell among other local-based players like Curtis Gonzales, Keyon Edwards, Kevon Carter and goalkeeper Marvin Phillip as well as new call up Cleon John.
Theobald, who has played in Scotland, Hungary and India, returned from a recent spell in Turkey, and said he’s privileged to be leading the T&T Team against Peru.
“It’s a great honour as always not just to captain the national team but to represent the country and to do so in a friendly international against the likes of a team such as Peru,” the 30-year-old Caledonia AIA player added.
“I think the guys all know how important it is for us to be focused and put in the work in preparations and be committed to the task of getting our football back to a high level of respectability and honour. We want to give a good showing on Wednesday and hopefully the fans can come out and be part of it.”
Meantime, the Peru team is scheduled to arrive in Port of Spain on Monday and head coach Sergio Makarian will conduct a training session on Sunday ahead of the team’s arrival here. Makarian also named his full team for the game inclusive of Peru’s home-based players.
He expects a good game on Wednesday against T&T.
“I expect the game to be a good, competitive one for us. It’s a preparation game for both teams and I expect a good contest. We are preparing for the match against Chile which is very crucial for us,” Makarian said.
Apart from the likes of Bayern Munich striker Claudio Pizarro and Schalke’s Jefferson Farfan, the other notable players in the Peru team includes Carlos Zambrano of Eintracht Frankfurt, Paolo Guerrero of Corinthians and Verona’s Rinaldo Cruzado.
Tickets priced at $100 are on sale at Kenny’s Sportshops, Sports & Games and Ramsingh’s Sportsworld.