T&T captain Kenwyne Jones wants the public to know that the driving force behind the current national senior team is the love and belief among players and members of staff.
The Cardiff City player said the country at large could take a page out of his team’s approach.
“This team went from being one that nobody gave a chance of doing anything worthwhile to one that not only surprised many and surpassed expectations but also put us back on the map and can now have people feeling a positive vibe and seeing the country in a positive light,” Jones said a day after his team exited the Concacaf Gold Cup with a defeat to Panama in penalty kicks in New Jersey.
“And I have been around a lot of national teams, the biggest achievers being the 2006 squad where there was a strong bond and I can say now that this bunch of players has a tight bond. There is love and the feeling that if we do things together and continue to do things the right way, then we can go on to reach places.
“We are not perfect and like everything else, we have mishaps, we make errors but what brings us through it is that togetherness and willingness to work hard to achieve. I think the country could use this as well. Right now there are a lot of things happening in our country that may not be always pleasing but coming together and putting things into perspective and working on things the way it should be, could do a lot of for us,” the T&T captain said.
Jones also addressed his teammates after the loss, saying: “Nobody except all of us in this unit would know what you had to go through and what you have to do to get to where we got to. And we need to keep pushing on. People will have things to say but once we stick together and keep doing things the right way, then we reach where we want to be."
RELATED NEWS
T&T best attacking team.
T&T Express.
THE consensus among many journalists and other media professionals attending the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup was, when in full flow Trinidad and Tobago’s Soca Warriors were the best attacking team at the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
The view was shared as well by CONCACAF officials who travelled from venue to venue across the United States for the matches. In their final match, the exhausted Warriors drew with Panama (1-1) after 120 minutes before going 6-5 in a penalty shoot-out at the quarter-final stage.
Panama managed the game better in very hot conditions and were the better team over 120 minutes. Even so, T&T showed glimpses of good attacking in the first half, and the ease in which Cordell Cato and Joevin Jones skipped past Panama defenders in the early stages was impressive, before fatigue seemed to take a toll on them.
Trinidad and Tobago head-coach Stephen Hart said: “We scored on everyone,” reminding those present that in four matches, T&T had put in nine goals. And except for the wild 4-4 draw with Mexico, he believed they defended pretty well also.