 Issued by Shaun Fuentes, TTFF Media Officer,
February 9, 2006
National Team head coach Leo Beenhakker has
included five new players in his 20-man squad to face Iceland in this
country’s next warm-up international at Loftus Road, England on February 28.
The Dutch-born coach, following several
scouting missions, has selected English-born Fulham goalkeeper Anthony
Warner, Swindon Town midfielder Ricky Shakes and coming out of the recent
training camp in Fort Laurderdale, defenders Nigel Henry and Anthony Noreiga
as well as promising left sided player Kevon Neaves.
The rest of the squad includes the regulars
who were part of the squad during the 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign.
They are: Shaka Hislop, Clayton Ince, Dennis Lawrence, Avery John, Marvin
Andrews Cyd Gray, Chris Birchall, Aurtis Whitley, Silvio Spann, Carlos
Edwards,Russell Latapy, Stern John, Kenwyne Jones, Collin Samuel and captain
Dwight Yorke.
Beenhakker added that the door has not be
closed on any player for selection on the final 23-man squad which will go
to the World Cup but he did say that he has to make use of the players at
his disposal who he thinks can make a difference at the international level
and hence his reason for selecting the newcomers for the match later this
month. As a result there are some players who were not invited to play at
Loftus Road. Some of them include Dundee goalkeeper Kelvin Jack who is now
coming off an injury and has not been seeing action for his club, Gillingham
defenders Brent Sancho and Ian Cox, Falkirk midfielder Densill Theobald, and
US-based strikers Cornell Glen and Scott Sealy.
“Since the qualification in November, we have
done a lot of scouting activities to see many players who until now were not
involved in the team within my period as national coach. As a result of this
I will give a fair chance to the new players Anthony Warner, Ricky Shakes,
Anthony Noreiga, Nigel Henry and Kevon Neaves based on what we saw from them
in training and matches,” Beenhakker told TTFF Media on Thursday.
The former Real Madrid boss went on to explain
that with still over three months before he makes his final selection for
the 2006 World Cup, the players not in the squad to face Iceland are not out
of the running for a final pick.
“Having to give other players a chance means
between other things that for this game several usual players like Kelvin
Jack, Ian Cox, Brent Sancho, Densill Theobald and
Jason Scotland among others, are not invited for this game. I informed most
of them and want to explain everybody that the door is far from closed for
this players, so they have to keep their eyes on the ball.
“I want to have a good overview of all
available players just to make the right decisions at the moment to make the
final choice of the 23 players who will represent T&T in Germany,”
Beenhakker added.
He also has not counted out the possibility of
Aston Villa defender Jlloyd Samuel, West Ham striker Bobby Zamora as well as
Arsenal defender Justin Hoyte who has Trinidadian parentage but ends up in
the same problem as Zamora and Samuel as he has represented England at youth
level and has already turned 21. He turns 22 in November and is currently on
loan to Sunderland.
“The door is not closed and in that way I am
also still hopeful that guys like Jlloyd Samuel, Bobby Zamora and possibly
Justin Hoyte will be available, as you know they
were already involved in England teams and FIFA regulations don't permit
them for the moment to play for T&T,” Beenhakker said.
The T&T-based contingent will depart Piarco on
February 25 and the full squad will assemble at the Renaissance Hotel,
Heathrow the following day with a training session carded for the QPR
training ground in the evening period.
Prior to that weekend, there will be sessions
conducted in Trinidad in collaboration with the clubs of which the selected
players are attached.
T&T squad for Iceland match: Shaka Hislop
(West Ham United), Clayton Ince (Coventry City), Anthony Warner (Fulham),
Cyd Gray (CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh), Marvin Andrews (Glasgow Rangers),
Dennis Lawrence (Wrexham), Avery John (New England Revolution), Anthony
Noreiga (Kansas City Wizards), Nigel Henry (unattached), Chris Birchall
(Port Vale), Aurtis Whitley (Jabloteh), Silvio Spann (unattached), Kevon
Neaves (University of South Florida), Carlos Edwards (Luton Town), Ricky
Shakes (Swindon Town), Dwight Yorke (Sydney FC), Russell Latapy (Falkirk),
Stern John (Coventry City), Kenwyne Jones (Southampton), and Collin Samuel
(Dundee United). |
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