It seems these days that Densill Theobald is among the most consistent captain in terms of winning for Trinidad and Tobago but the Caledonia AIA skipper, who has a smile on his face quite a lot these days, is taking it all at a patient pace.
Theobald has three wins and a draw under his belt since leading T&T in the opening Digicel Cup encounter against Barbados and now he has no intentions of letting up against Haiti.
“You find I’m smiling a lot these days?” he says with a further smile with teeth visible from end to end. “But it shows I’m enjoying the football and the way the team has risen to the challenge. It hasn’t been easy for us but the boys deserve full credit. I have been through some rough times before and this was another test and we have risen to it so far,” added the ex-Falkirk man who has shown maturity both on and off the pitch.
“The coach has worked really hard with us and the whole staff has given a lot too and the players have responded… It will never be easy when you have a set of new guys in a team. It took character to get here… to make the final after a game against Cuba as well. They beat us last time,” he recalled. He also mentioned that it wasn’t easy being on the same pitch with opposing players spitting at them in frustration of having the result go against them.
“None of that is easy and especially for a young bunch like our team, it can break your focus and cause you to maybe react but we kept our cool and we are into the final without any red cards or anything like that.”
“But we want to win it out. We came a long way and we are one match away from the first prize,” he added.
Rijsbergen was also becoming more satisfied with the showing from his team.
“We've done a lot of hard work over the last two weeks, and it's paying off," Rijsbergen said in the post match media conference.
"Their finishing once in a while could be better, but overall we are pleased with the performance of the boys. I hope the crowd gives their support because we are going to need it."
He then responded with a chortle when asked if was concerned with the number of miss scoring chances, adding “I should be worried if we don't create any more chances at all."
"You see when they have their team together they can be a tough opponent. Hopefully, we can give them a very good final and for it to go our way."
Rijsbergen acknowledged there is still work to be done to strengthen the defence, saying that problem could not be solved in two weeks and adding: "If you make less mistakes you will play a better game and give less chances to the opponents.
"I'm not looking at caps, I'm not looking at history, I am looking for a team for the (World Cup 2010) qualification."
He also cleverly responded to whether Osei Telesford and Darryl Roberts had done sufficient stuff to warrant his pick.
"(It) could be that's why I picked them. Could be a possibility I picked them to perform well."
Telesford was also smiling a bit after taking the Digicel "Man of the Match" award after the win over Cuba.
"It's been hard work but it's a little something to feel good about. The coach has done a lot of work with us and we have worked hard at the same time and it's nice to see the guys performing well as a team and coming away with the victory. We probably be back on the training field tomorrow instead of relaxing at the poolside but it's part of the job and we have to get it done if we want to win the final," said the ex-Joe Public defender.