National coach Otto Pfister switched his training venue to Las Cueves yesterday as the Soca Warriors continued preparation for the 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign.
Pfister has been conducting sessions at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva, but opted for a change in environment and conditions, overseeing a fitness session at the beach on a sunny but quiet morning with the session starting at 9 am and lasting about an hour.
Pfister is no stranger to training in a hot climate but says that the beach conditions in T&T are a prime resource of which athletes here should take advantage.
“Football is an international game. Each region has its own peculiarities and personalities, and its conditions. At the end of the day it is the same game in Egypt, Cameroon or Togo as it is in Trinidad and Tobago.
It’s the same family, the same ball and the principles are the same,” Pfister said recently. While the current squad comprises strictly home-based players, T&T’s quota of European-based players are nearing the end of their seasons and will return to T&T within the next few weeks. It is expected that those who are in Pfister’s overall pool will be invited to join the sessions.
Pfister has stated he will consider only his best available players based both at home and abroad for upcoming international matches including a friendly during the August Fifa international window.
He will leave for the United States next month to witness the Concacaf Gold Cup. Prior to that, he will visit Tobago to take in some of the action at a game arranged involving some of the better players on the island.