National Team head coach Wim Rijsbergen has selected a 21-man squad to challenge for the 2007 Digicel Caribbean Cup which this country opens on January 12 against Barbados at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
Following the commencement of training with a squad of 41 players last month, Rijsbergen along with assistant coaches Anton Corneal, Jan Van Deinsen and Brian Williams carried out sessions before the Dutchman finalized his squad which is minus some 12 players from CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh who were initially invited for training but were barred by their club from being available for the tournament due to their Caribbean Club Championship commitments.
Among the more experienced players in the current squad include Densill Theobald, who lined up for the “Soca Warriors” at the 2006 World Cup, Kansas City Wizards striker Scott Sealy, Joe Public striker Gary Glasgow and former Real Salt Lake midfielder Leslie Fitzpatrick.
The rest of the pack is relatively new to the international stage with at least ten players getting the first call to the national team for competition on the international stage. Those ten players include Seon Power, Christian Bapstiste, Abiola Clarence, Kwame Wiltshire, Hayden Tinto, Keeron Benito, Yohance Marshall and Makan Hislop, Osei Telesford and Joel Bailey. Both Hislop and Tinto represented T&T at the Under 20 level while Benito is also a past national youth player. Seon Power had stints with the National Under 17 team of 2001. Telesford and forward Darryl Roberts was in the mix for the Miami training camp under Leo Beenhakker in January leading up the World Cup. Telesford, formerly of Joe Public has showed great promise and was named US Premier Development League “Defender of the Year “ for 2006. Roberts meantime, who was in the squad for T&T’s opening 2006 World Cup qualifier against Dominican Republic is in his final year at Liberty and is the third all time highest scorer there.
The others like Anthony Noreiga and Dwayne Jack have limited international experience while goalkeepers Jan Michael Williams and Marvin Phillips, the other player yet to make his debut, are also relatively new to the international stage. Kerwyn Jemmott earns a recall following a lay off and an inconsistent run of form in the past in national colours. Thomas made his debut against Haiti back in July 2003.
Corneal relayed that with Rijsbergen coming into the country on Thursday and resuming duties on Saturday, he had already pinpointed his players for selection and finalized it following consultation with his assistants.
“I think it’s a good situation because we have a lot more players getting a chance to make their mark on the international stage,” Corneal told TTFF Media.
“A lot of times they played a second role to the European-based players so this is a chance to try and seal themselves for selection in future national teams. They should grasp this opportunity. We are also seeing a couple players from this US getting into the national team plus a couple players who have been in an around national team getting another chance like the Jemmotts and Glasgows,” he added.
Sealy, who also made his debut straight out of US College in June 2005 against Dominican Republic, feels it is important that players like himself, Theobald and Glasgow, with experience on their side, lead by example.
“I think in the past few weeks we got to see new faces who are willing to step up and fight for the place. The tournament is going to be interesting because we have a bunch of new guys who have never played at this level and so it will be a very interesting to see who can step up,” the former St Mary’s College player told TTFF Media on Thursday following a session at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva.
“We have guys from College getting into the team and I know myself coming straight out of College and playing for the national team wasn’t easy. Now Digicel Cup is a good way for them to make that start.
“I think we definitely looked at things in practice and at times we get frustrated because we know what the coaches expect of us and these new guys don’t always understand everything… that can sometimes hold things up. But I think we as new guys have to show that patience and we will do it … passing on their experience. We have to maintain a standard to try and make the team better overall. Sometimes we as the more senior players have to show them too why we made it before them and at the same time help them make that transition for the benefit of the team similar to how some of the other senior guys would have done during the last World Cup campaign and before,” Sealy added.
Fitzpatrick and Jemmott were also part of a Digicel promotion on Thursday evening as they partook in a coaching clinic with youngsters at the St Dominic’s Chilrden’s Home in Belmont. The team will resume training on Saturday afternoon at Couva following which one player will be cut. (January 4, 2007.Photo shows Leslie Fitzpatrick at Thursday's Digicel coaching clinic at the St Dominic's Children's home.
T&T Digicel Cup Squad – Jan Michael Williams, Nickcolson Thomas (W Connection), Marvin Phillips (Starworld Strikers), Seon Power, Gary Glasgow (Joe Public), Makan Hislop (University of South Carolina),Yohance Marshall (University of South Florida) Osei Telesford, Darryl Roberts (Liberty University), Abiola Clarence (University of Incarnate Word), Keeron Benito (University of Tampa), Anthony Noreiga (unattached), Dwayne Jack, Kwame Wiltshire (Tobago United), Densill Theobald, Hayden Tinto (Caledonia AIA), Kerwyn Jemmott (Superstar Rangers), Christian Baptiste (Defence Force) and Joel Bailey (Monreal Impact), Leslie Fitzpatrick (unattached), Scott Sealy (Kansas City Wizards)