The Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation has extended an invitation to members of the 2006 World Cup squad to witness Friday’s opening match of the 2014 World Cup Qualifying campaign between this country and Bermuda at the Hasely Crawford Stadium from 4pm.
The invitation was passed on by All Sport Promotions Director Anthony Harford on behalf of the TTFF, Harford is overseeing all marketing and promotions for the 2014 World Cup campaign.
“I have already spoken to Brent Sancho and he’s accepted the invitation on behalf of the members of the 2006 team and of course the invitation has also been passed on to the other members.
These players are still held in high regards and we thought it would be fitting to have them as our guests for the opening match of the campaign,” Harford told TTFF Media.
Members of the 2006 team in the current team include Stern John, Anthony Wolfe, Carlos Edwards, Kenwyne Jones, Chris Birchall, Densill Theobald and Stern John.
“Overall all efforts are being carried out and final arrangements including proper security measures are in place to ensure Friday’s match comes off as smoothly as possible and of course we are hoping that the fans turn out in large numbers to witness the start of the qualification for Brazil 2014.
Tickets are on sale throughout the week at all Kenny’s Sports Outlets and at All Sports and will also be on sale at the venue on Friday.” Harford added.
A similar invitation has also been extended to the Trinidad and Tobago 20/20 cricket team and members of the West Indies cricket team who will be in the country on the weekend.
Meantime, national head coach Otto Pfister welcomed Carlos Edwards, Khaleem Hyland, Anthony Warner, Clyde Leon, Julius James and Jake Thomson in his training session on Monday morning at the Hasely Crawford Stadium. Pfister addressed the players prior to his session which lasted for two hours.
The other members expected in on Monday evening were Stoke City’s Kenwyne Jones, La Galaxy’s Chris Birchall and Slovakia-based winger Lester Peltier. Keon Daniel and Andre Boucaud are expected on Tuesday.
Warner, who made his debut for T&T in a 2-0 win over Iceland in February 2006 in London, said he was anticipating his return to the team, adding that his hopes of playing in a World Cup was renewed by this call up.
“I was always available. I got called for the game versus Cuba in the last campaign. I just waited for the moment to arrive. Definitely now the dreams of playing in a World Cup are still alive especially now with this call up at this early stage of the qualifying.
I think that’s what went against me last time when I was playing at a good level of football but I wasn’t involved in the early stages of the qualification. But to come in now at the start is a good opportunity for me and I’m looking forward to it,” Warner told TTFF Media.
The former Liverpool and Celtic custodian mentioned that he was in no way underestimating Bermuda’s chances having found out that they upset T&T 2-1 in the opening match of the 2010 campaign.
“You need to get as many points on the board as you possibly can in this qualification. I won’t be taken them (Bermuda) lightly and I don’t think the Trinidad and Tobago team will settle for anything other than a convincing victory.”
And after arriving in Fort Lauderdale for a training camp ahead of their arrival in Port of Spain on Wednesday, Bermudan head coach Devarr Boyle said while in the past Bermuda have had a long preparation time for international matches, the Island is now operating like most other nations and will only have a five-day build-up.
Boyles though believes that should be ample time to gel the team into a unit, especially as the players concerned all know what roles they are expected to perform, the Royal Gazette stated.
“Our problem really is establishing what is Bermudian,” said Boyles, “so for the next few years it will be a lot of movement in that direction, both from clubs as well as what we are doing at the national level to come up with something that we can identify as Bermudian.
“I don’t see the small amount of preparation time as being any problem in actual fact. We have profiles for position, players are matching those profiles, so when it comes to individuals it’s just a matter of performing individually well, and collectively it results in a good performance.”
Bermuda’s Bradford City striker Nahki Wells scored for his club in their 4-2 win over Barnet on the weekend and later said it was the ideal confident booster for him ahead of Friday’s qualifier.
“I knew I had to go into that game and do well and leave a good account for myself before I travel knowing that if I did well as soon as a get back I would be a part of the plans no matter what happens,” Wells said.