“All focus is on Curacao.”
Defender Aubrey David and striker Reon Moore made the comment during the team’s training session Tuesday afternoon in preparation for the Concacaf Nations League ‘A’ match against Curacao, which will take place Thursday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo, Port-of-Spain from 6 pm.
Both players have side-stepped issues highlighted by the former captain and midfielder Kevin Molino, that coach Angus Eve had lost the dressing room during the CONCACAF Gold Cup in the United States in June/July.
Molino, 33, the Columbus Crew player who returned from injuries recently, also accused coach Eve of lacking technically and tactically skills as a coach.
Moore, who was overlooked for the Concacaf Gold Cup, said he was not aware of the issues raised by Molino and wanted to focus on the match at hand.
David too, downplayed the recent development in the national team, saying they first want to concentrate on Curacao and then El Salvador three days later on Monday (September 10).
“We have 23 players right now. We have a good mixture with senior team players and young players who came in with a lot of motivation and a point to prove, and I think it’s a good mix,” said David. “This is a chance for them to showcase what they can do and raise their hands and say why they deserve to be here, so I think this is just good for us, but we would like to just focus on the game, and get three points on Thursday.”
Quizzed on the Curacao team, David said: “Well, recently, we saw them at the Gold Cup and saw that they have a decent team. They have a lot of players playing in good leagues and we know they’re going to be coming with everything because it’s the first game for them also.
“They have a lot of players who are fast, technical, and are good dribblers of the ball on one-versus-one situations, so we can expect that they’re going to come and play on the counter-attack, but we know that it’s not going to be an easy game.”
Eve, who too, appeared focused in the centre of the field alongside assistant coaches Derek King and Clayton Ince yesterday, released a 23-man team for the match that included midfielder, Swedish-based Kristian Lee Him, who told the media he will be equipped with much-needed experience and leadership abilities which he gained from playing in Europe.
Apart from Lee Him, Eve’s team will be minus some 12 players who represented the country at the Concacaf Gold Cup, such as goalkeepers Marvin Phillip and Nicklas Frenderup, hard-hitting attacking defender Alvin Jones, Joevin Jones, Sheldon Bateau and Real Gill, among others.
Instead, Eve has opted to recall the speedy Moore who plays for Defence Force in the T&T Premier Football League, along with towering striker Brent Sam, Ross Russell Jr, Duane Muckette, Michel Poon Angeron, and Nathaniel James, the talented Club Sando striker who was among the leading goal scorers in the top tier local league.
Thursday’s game will be the first time they play a match at Hasely Crawford Stadium since defeating Saint Martin 2-0 in a friendly in January.
T&T has only faced Curacao once before and it was a memorable clash at the 2014 Caribbean Cup in a back-and-forth contest which T&T won 3-2.
T&T TEAM
GOALKEEPERS
Denzil Smith, Jabari St Hillaire, Christopher Biggette
DEFENDERS
Aubrey David, Ross Russell Jr, Jesse Williams, Kareem Moses, Justin Garcia, Shannon Gomez, Andre Raymond
MIDFIELDERS
Andre Rampersad, Duane Muckette, Neveal Hackshaw, Michel Poon Angeron, Kevon Goddard, Kristian Lee Him, Daniel Phillips.
FORWARDS
Ryan Telfer, Kaile Auvray, Nathaniel James, Reon Moore, Malcolm Shaw, Brent Sam.