This country’s National head coach Leo Beenhakker has proposed to have the National Team based in Austria during the month of May in the build up for the start of the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany from June 9.
Beenhakker, currently in the middle of trips between Germany and Austria, revealed his intentions this week to the TTFF and will also oversee an international friendly away to either Norway or Wales on February 8, 2006.
All this with several other interesting developments were announced at a news conference hosted by the TTFF and the LOC 2006 at the Crowne Plaza on Friday morning.
The occasion, the final gathering before next Friday’s World Cup draw was attended by the top officials of the TTFF and partners.
A new official registered logo for the Soca Warriors was also unveiled as well as a new website www.socawarriorstt.com for the marketing and promotion of the National Team and the Germany experience. This website will be operational soon.
Those on hand also witnessed a feisty display involving two female models and one male model outfitted in costumes depicting the “Warriors” look.
Warner was also high in praise of Tourism Minister Howard Chin Lee for his input into the initiatives that will be taken up to promote the “Soca Warriors” brand on the global market. The Ministry of Tourism along with the Tourism Development Company, the TTFF and the newly launched Board of Directors to oversee the T&T/Germany campaign will be teaming up to ensure that the “Soca Warriors” team and by extent the country is marketed.
The Special Advisor to the TTFF, announced that following Beenhakker’s decisions, team training camps and clinics will take place in England and Trinidad between now and May 2006. Similar exercises will also take place in the United States once deemed necessary.
Warner said that Beenhakker also thanked assistant coach Theo de Jong for his services and he will now be replaced by another Dutch-born coach while the ex-Real Madrid boss has also requested that youth development officer and former national player Anton Corneal be brought on board to assist from January 2. “He wants him as his understudy so that he can leave a legacy afterwards and we were quite pleased with that decision of his to have Mr Corneal on board. ” Warner said.
Beenhakker has insisted that he wants the team to play no other match at home other than that of the one carded for March 29 even though Warner said he will try to convince him to play another one in May. But he later explained why it would be a near impossibility stage such a match in Port of Spain.
The proposed team live in camp will take place in Austria from May 6-22. From that period too, Beenhakker will add a full-time European manager for the team that is multi-lingual and has the experience of the whereabouts in that part of the world. He will be added to the current staff.
Some of the other developments included the annoucement of the Team Staff for Germany which had as new additions - Esmond O'Brien as assistant to equipment manager to Ikin Williams and Dennis Ramdeen whose Company, Pepper Advertising will oversee public relations for the Committee, also being added as an assistant to Team Press Officer Shaun Fuentes. The rest of the staff remains with Aanensen as Manager, George Joseph, Peter Rampers and Sam Phillip as assistants, Ikin Williams (equipment manager), Zeph Nicholas (Physio), Wayne Lawson (trainer), Terence Babwah (Team Doctor).
Former General Secretary of the Jamaican Football Federation, Horace Reid, who worked on Jamaica's 1998 World Cup campaign, will serve as Chief Operational Officer of the Team while Brigadier John Sandy (Team security officer) and Cecil Wint (Chef) will also take up duty.