US-College based striker Darryl Roberts said his confidence has been lifted after he made his first international start for Trinidad and Tobago on Monday against Martinique in the Digicel Caribbean Cup.
Roberts, who missed a sitter moments after coming on against Barbados, scored T&T’s opener to set the pace against the Martiniquans.
The Liberty College striker said he was somewhat surprised to have been given the starting position ahead by Scott Sealy by head coach Wim Rijsbergen.
“I was a but surprised with the start but football is just that, once you are on the field you have to go all out,” Roberts said after the win.
“First of all the team worked really hard on ball possession and that paid off for us. We obviously wanted to come back strong against Martinique after the draw with Barbados. I wasn’t taking on the miss in the first game too much except for maybe just after the match ended. But I knew I had to come back strong and I was happy to play my part in this win. Overall my moral has been lifted and the rest of the team has become more confident as well because scoring five goals can only do that for you. We will look to carry on from here now and I will try to maintain my confidence and form as well,” Roberts added.
Meantime, former US-based striker Gary Glasgow said he used his experience to bounce back from the first half penalty miss to eventually score two goals against Martinique, taking his tournament tally three so far.
“Obviously it was a little setback but you have to overcome things like that. I had to settle down again and play my natural game. The coach told me to forget about it and pick up myself and go again. I felt good being able to come back and contribute and the important thing is we got the 5-1 result in the end,” Glasgow said. In related news, formerWest Ham United midfielder Brent Rahim is back on the pitch, having joined Pro League outfit CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh and is training with the squad ahead of the upcoming final round of the Caribbean Club Championship.