Russell Latapy was the most senior player walking into the Riande Aeropuerto Hotel at around 11pm on Monday night as Trinidad and Tobago’s senior team made a quiet entry into Panama City for their vital 2006 World Cup qualifying match on Saturday.
A 21-man squad assembled mid afternoon in Miami before taking the connecting flight to Panama City which was followed by a 5 minute bus ride to the team’s hotel.
There was one television camera crew on hand for the team’s arrival which was relatively low keyed compared to recent outings and this was not at all unwelcome by head coach Leo Beenhakker who expects the arrival of team captain Dwight Yorke on Tuesday. Others like Shaka Hislop and Kelvin Jack, rising Southampton striker Kenwyne Jones, Luton Town's Carlos Edwards, returning Coventry City goalie Clayton Ince, scoring hero Stern John, young English-born Chris Birchall, MLS rookie star Scott Sealy and the home-base connection led by Aurtis Whitley were all checked in and settled in their rooms by midnight.
Without Yorke’s presence though, Beenhakker will conduct his first session at the National Stadium field on Tuesday morning. The team is not expected to train at the Estadio Rommel Fernández, venue for Saturday’s encounter.
Earlier on, the four home-based pros received a few well wishes at the Piarco International Airport as the staff also flew out on American Airlines 1819 with only one local media member on the trip, that being Ian Prescott of the Trinidad Express.
The contingent relaxed in Miami for close to six hours before getting ready for the flight which ended in rain in Panama City as has been the case for the last four days here.
“That’s the situation at the moment. We have our first training session tomorrow morning and we begin from here. Get a good night’s rest, we have a wake up call at 8:30 am and then we have breakfast and leave for the training ground. Let’s Rock and Roll,” Beenhakker said as the “Warriors” finished dinner on Monday night.
Meantime, Panama released their squad for the match with Jorge Dely Valdez and Luis Medina included for Saturday’s match.
Panama Squad:
Goalkeepers:
Jaime Penedo (Arabe Unido), José Calderón (San Francisco).
Defenders:
Joel Solanilla (Arabe Unido), Román Torres (San Francisco), Miguel Olivares (San Francisco), Ubaldo Guardia (Tauro), Víctor Miranda (Arabe Unido), Luis Moreno (Envigado, Colombia).
Midfielders:
Julio Medina III (Comunicaciones, Guatemala). Engin Mitre (Plaza Amador), James Brown (Arabe Unido), Gustavo Avila (Arabe Unido), Angel Lombardo (Plaza Amador), Celso Polo (Chepo F.C.), Gabriel Gómez (Deportivo Pereira, Colombia),
Forwards:
Jorge Dely Valdés (Arabe Unido)., Anthony Basile (Chorrillo), Edwin Aguilar (Tauro), Gabriel Torres (San Francisco), Julio Dely Valdés (sin club),