England-based Cardiff City striker Kenwyne Jones has been named captain as Trinidad and Tobago will field its most star-studded senior national football team, for many a year, in the upcoming Caribbean Cup competition.
Trinidad and Tobago host one of three Caribbean Cup semi-final groups, which will see the top two teams of each joining champions Cuba and host Jamaica in the 2014 Caribbean Cup finals, to be held in Montego Bay, Jamaica, from November 9-19.
The Soca Warriors play the Dominican Republic (October 8.), St Lucia (October 10) and Antigua-Barbuda (October12). All matches will be played at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva.
National team head-coach Stephen Hart has submitted a 30-man roster to the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), but will only name his final 20-man squad next week. The team goes into camp on October 2 and sees its first action six days later against the Dominican Republic, the second match of an Ato Boldon Stadium double-header.
Vietnam-based midfielder Hughtun Hector gets his first call-up in two years, while Hart has also named Hector's Vietnam teammate defender Daneil Cyrus, Belgium-based Khaleem Hyland, USA-based Kevin Molino, Lester Peltier, English-born Andre Boucard and central defender Carlyle Mitchell, among the invited foreign-based players. Belgium-based former Central FC footballers Willis Plaza and Rundell Winchester are also under consideration.
The national head-coach has also invited some members of the national Under-20 team which was recently crowned Caribbean champions, but expressed alarm that some of these players have returned to a lower level of competition, by playing schoolboy football.
The aim according to Hart is to qualify for a second consecutive CONCACAF Gold Cup. Restricted by resources, Hart will go with a familiar model, using many of the players which lined up for the Soca Warriors against World Cup participants Argentina and Iran back in June.
Hart sees benefits from both Caribbean Cup semi-final and final matches being played within a FIFA international window for the first time. “It does allow us to have the international players and it makes a big difference to our selection,” Hart declared.
“The object is to qualify for the next stage, and then we build on that.” Hart had initially planned to have a locally-based team in training some time ago, but has been limited both by resources and the absence of available local players when they were not in the service of their local clubs.
"A large portion of the available local players were out of the country or on trials,”Hart said of his decision to call several foreigh-based players. Either you go blind, not knowing how a (new) player will react in a situation, or you go with something familiar.”
Hart is not pleased with the short preparation of the national team, and confesses that his work in Trinidad and Tobago had been hampered by a lack of resources by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA).
But the former Canada-based coach has vowed to develop the football brand on the field, along with his players, while leaving administration to the Association. He feels his players understand what he is trying to build and the financial reality.
“It is not ideal. It is the reality of our football today,” Hart said. “Our resources are at present very limited. I came in here knowing the circumstances,” adding, “It is probably worst than I thought, but we continue to build from the bottom up.”
Admission for matches in the Caribbean Cup qualifying stage is $100 for covered stands and $60 for uncovered. There will also be a three-day ticket at a cost of $260 in the covered stand. Children 12 & under free.
CFU CARIBBEAN CUP SEMI-FINAL FIXTURES:
(October 8.)
Antigua & Barbuda vs St Lucia - 6 p.m, Ato Boldon Stadium
Trinidad and Tobago vs Dominican Republic - 8.15 p.m, Ato Boldon Stadium
(October 10)
Dominican Republic vs Antigua & Barbuda - 6 p.m, Ato Boldon Stadium
Trinidad and Tobago vs St Lucia—8.15 p.m, Ato Boldon Stadium
(October 12)
St Lucia vs Dominican Republic - 4 p.m, Ato Boldon Stadium
Trinidad and Tobago vs Antigua & Barbuda - 6. 15 p.m, Ato Boldon Stadium
RELATED NEWS
Kenwyne heads Warriors roster; Hart keeps shallow player pool
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868.com)
Twenty-nine-year-old Cardiff City forward Kenwyne Jones will make his regional debut for Trinidad and Tobago next month when he leads the “Soca Warriors” into the Caribbean Cup qualifying series in Couva.
Trinidad and Tobago opens its Caribbean Cup tournament against the Dominican Republic from 8.15 pm on Wednesday October 8 in the second game of a double header at the Ato Boldon Stadium.
Tickets are available at $100 for covered stands and $60 for uncovered stands while fans can purchase a special ticket to see all three games for $260.
The Caribbean Football Union’s decision to align its competitive matches with the FIFA international calendar means that, for the first time, national associations can select squads without conflict with foreign-based teams.
And Trinidad and Tobago head coach Stephen Hart will utilise that option as he confirmed, at a press conference today, that he is already assured of eight overseas players in his 20-man squad.
Apart from Jones, Belgium-based midfielder Khaleem Hyland (Racing Genk), England-based midfielder Andre Boucaud (Dagenham & Redbridge), Finland-based utility player Joevin Jones (HJK), the North American-based duo of Kevin Molino (Orlando City) and Carlyle Mitchell (Vancouver Whitecaps) and the Vietnam-based pair of Hughtun Hector and Daneil Cyrus (both Hanoi T&T) will all represent the Warriors in the qualifying stage.
Jones (J), Mitchell, Hector, Molino and Cyrus all participated in the 2012 Caribbean Cup in which the Warriors finished second to Cuba.
Hart explained that the remainder of his squad will be released next week as the TTFA has appealed to the CFU for permission to change its initial shortlist due to injuries.
The head coach suggested that an inability to work with more local-based players, due to a lack of funding for camps or their unavailability through trials, prompted him to stick with his core group of players.
“It is no secret that we wanted to have a local group of players in camp and playing international games because that is the only way you can evaluate them,” said Hart. “… In terms of preparation, I have decided to go with a squad that is familiar with what I have been doing since I took over…
“It is either you go in those games blind not knowing how the players would respond internationally or you go with what is familiar. I chose the latter.”
Hart revealed that he included several national under-20 players in his initial CFU shortlist. However, he might be having second thoughts after he watched the likes of Levi Garcia, Jabari Mitchell, Martieon Watson, Nicholas Dillon and Matthew Woo Ling return to secondary schools football rather than seek out more competitive arenas. Garcia and Dillon are both attached to Central FC’s Pro League first teams.
“There are a few (under-20 players) that were on the 30-man (CFU) roster,” said Hart, “I do have some concerns though because some of them have chosen to play school football…
“Both myself and (national under-20 head coach) Derek King mentioned to them that, if you do have aspirations, you should play at the highest level possible. But I cannot make decisions for them; I can only advise.”
For those who do make the final 20-man squad, Hart suggested a rotation policy might mean playing time for his entire squad as a way of dealing with the CFU’s customary scheduling of three matches in five days. Although it is the same format followed by the national under-17, under-20 and senior women’s teams, the Warriors coach might be unwilling to cross swords with professional clubs on the matter.
“You have to play three games in the FIFA window with a day off in between each game,” said Hart, “and that in itself—I might stand to be corrected here—doesn’t exactly fall in line with FIFA’s medical guidelines.
“We have to be calculating in how we approach these games and our recovery between games.”
Hart pointed to internal problems as well.
Sixteen months into the job, the former Canada head coach admitted he has not been able to put a program in place to widen his player pool due to the TTFA’s financial shortcomings.
“We have not been in a position to run a consistent program to generate any sort of continuity,” he said. “I can only play the hand that was dealt and I think this is the best approach for this qualification round.
“I have submitted that I would like to play on FIFA dates and if the Pro League has a break… But I have no operating budget.”
At present, the Warriors players and staff are still owed match fees from their exhibition match against Iran in June while even bonuses due from the 2012 Caribbean Cup have not been paid. But Hart declined comment on any TTFA’s debts.
“Please take that up with (general secretary Sheldon) Phillips and (president Raymond) Tim Kee,” said Hart.
Hart is only the second coach to take Trinidad and Tobago into the knockout stage of the CONCACAF Gold Cup while the Warriors’ only defeats in 11 international outings came against 2014 World Cup finalists Argentina, Iran and Mexico and on penalties to the United Arab Emirates in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
He admitted the job was a tough one, particularly due to off the field issues, but suggested that he is committed to the team’s 2018 World Cup campaign.
“I came in here knowing the circumstances (and) it is probably worse than I thought,” said Hart. “But you cannot build anything from the outside… Players and staff have worked very hard to show we can get our part right and we will try to rectify the other parts as soon as possible.
“Yes (the debt to the players and staff) is an issue. But from a technical standpoint the players have responded on the field and taken their issues off the field with the management.”
Hart called on the media to play its part as well in promoting the local game. He suggested that television crews should stop filming games from the covered stands and shoot from the opposite end, so as to show the spectators who generally flock to the covered areas.
And he urged supporters to support their local players too.
“When you look at the (Caribbean Cup) Under-20 tournament that just finished, the quality of the football was not bad at all,” said Hart. “Personally I was a little disappointed in the (size of the) crowd… But it is just a matter of us continuing to do what we can do and try to get it right on the field. And hopefully if we get it right, the people would return to football.
“But if you look at all (levels) of football right now: colleges, Pro League (and) national team and you look in the stands you have to (tell) yourself there is a problem. And football without spectators is a sweat.”
For the first time since 1996, Trinidad and Tobago will be near full strength at the Caribbean Cup and there is a special incentive for the overall tournament winner who will participate at the 2016 Copa America champions alongside South American giants like Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Colombia.