Jack Warner, Special Advisor to the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation, President Oliver Camps and technical director Lincoln Phillips will be on hand to welcome new National Senior Team head coach Leo Beenhakker upon his arrival at the Piarco International Airport at 4:35pm on the BW 901 flight from London.
The former Netherlands National Team coach will be here for four days during which time he will meet with officials of the Team and the Federation as well as the players. He will also visit some of the facilities which will be at his disposal.
In a brief statement, Beenhakker made it clear that he is coming with a no-nonsense approach to the job of guiding the “Warriors” to a favourable position in the CONCACAF Hexagonal stage beginning with the next home qualifier against Panama on June 4.
“I understand the situation of the team and from my side I can confirm my
interest in taking over the job as a responsible head coach. I only have to explain that from my side the key for accepting a job or not does not depend on the financial conditions in the first place. Primarily I am much more interested in the technical conditions and the
circumstances to do my job. For me that's the basic part to being successful or not,” the former Ajax Amsterdam and Real Madrid coach stated. Beenhakker has also coached Real Zaragoza, Feyenoord and Grasshoppers FC and Saudi Arabia among other teams
President Camps expressed confidence in Beenhakker, also thanking Warner for his efforts to ensure that the “Warriors” remain well resourced for the remainder of the campaign.
“Without a doubt, I think we have secured the services of a highly qualified and respected coach whose record speaks for itself,” Camps told TTFF Media. “And he has already shown the commitment by coming to Trinidad this early to see that things are put in place for him to be able to perform his role and we intend to ensure that he gets that. Thanks to Mr Warner as well, we have a coach that can carry on from where the team has reached at this stage and the hopes remain high for the remainder of the campaign. It’s important that we all put our heads and resources together to ensure that we make it through this journey.”
Warner too added "You can be rest assured that Mr Beenhakker will have at his disposal whatever is necessary for him to perform his duties. I have made that commitment previously and now that he is coming, it remains the same and I have every intention of seeing it through this way."