ANGUS EVE, coach of the Trinidad and Tobago’s senior men and Under-20 football teams, is pleased with what he saw as the ‘National Pool’ of footballers beat Eastern Counties 5-0 in the opening match of the Trinidad and Tobago Inter Zone football competition.
Sunday’s action represented the first official match played in Trinidad and Tobago since local football shut down in March 2020 due to the onslaught of the Covid-91 pandemic.
Eve revealed how thrilled he was with the professionalism shown by the Eastern Counties team, made up of players from regions such as Sangre Grande, Cumuto, Valencia and Mayaro.
“I want to give them a lot of credit. I thought they were very organised. They were very professional in their pursuit of what we were trying to do. They had a lot of good, young players on show,” said Eve.
“They helped us to achieve exactly the goal we are trying to achieve in this tournament which is to give players who haven’t been seen an opportunity to be seen, and also to give the Under-20’s and the 10 seniors some form of match practise.”
The “National Pool” comprised 14 national Under-20 footballers, along with 10 senior national players. The two national groups are training and playing together in preparation for two separate tournaments; the CONCACAF Under-20 Championships and CONCACAF Nations League, both due to take place in mid-year.
Among the seniors playing for the “Nationals” were Radanfah Abu Bakr, Reon Moore, Duane Muckette, Michel Poon Angeron, goalkeeper Marvin Phillip and Kevon Goddard, while Molik Khan, Jaheim Faustin, Gerrard Pascal, and Marvin Waldropt were among the junior footballers.
“All of them played in the game. So, we had a nice blend of junior and the senior ones, in preparation for the two tournament that we are preparing for,” Eve explained. “What we are trying to do by marrying the two set of players to train together, is so the learning curve for the Under-20 players could be a little shorter.
“Plus, on both sides, we are trying to get the players the coordination, timing of play and stuff, because some have not played football for two years. This is an exercise to get them back in the rhythm of playing competitive football,” stated Eve.
SOURCE: T&T Express