Trinidad and Tobago coach Stephen Hart has named a 22-man squad for the 2018 World Cup Qualifier against Guatemala on November 13th at the Estadio Mateo Flores in Guatemala City.
The team will depart for fort Lauderdale on Saturday afternoon for a training camp before flying to Guatemala City on November 11th. The team captain is Kenwyne Jones and there is a recall for South Korea-based defender Carlyle Mitchell who has not played for T&T team since November last year.
“The selection for the Guatemala game is a balanced one and it also allows for flexibility in our approach,” Hart told TTFA Media about the team selection.
Earlier in the day, Shaun Fuentes the TTFA director of comunication denied media reports which stated, that according to “top sources” national senior men’s team head coach Stephen Hart had resigned.
Fuentes said: “There is no truth to this. Matter of fact, Mr Hart is getting ready to announce his selection for the two upcoming 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Guatemala and United States”. There is no truth to the rumours. We have two crucial World Cup qualifying matches to prepare for and that remains the focus. The selection of the team is already finalised and will be made public shortly,” Hart stated.
Meanwhile, Hart told the Guardian yesterday that Guatemala is traditionally a difficult team to play away from home and their supporters do everything possible to make the environment uncomfortable for their opponents. “Normally they play loud music to prevent you from rest, sometimes they walk out in front the bus, they do everything to get the edge, that is just how the Central American countries are, but we just have to try and control the things we have control of and go out there and do our best,” Hart said.
“It’s a difficult environment and we want to minimise potential disruption with travel, hotel and training. Now I am not saying Guatemala will do this, per say, but the game itself will carry a certain stress, so our intention is to make the players as comfortable as possible.”
To combat this the coach said he has had to talk to his players about what to expect for the match. “When we reach in California I will have discussions with the players, both individually and collectively, in order to get them prepared for the game,” the coach added. He explained “The camp in Fort Lauderdale will allow us a few days to work without scrutiny and we can simply concentrate on our approach to the game. Players will once again work on their roles and function and we can go over the details of potential scenarios.”
The T&T will see the return of captain and striker Kenwyne Jones and when when quizzed about his fitness Hart said he is fine and ready. “From all the reports Jones seem to be fine, he came on in Tuesday’s game so he is ready.” He also told the Guardian that he took the decison to bring back Mitchell because he has been playing well and he has also been consistent. “I have been following Mitchell’s performances and he told me that he wanted to be part of the team and I think that being strong in each position is good so I brought him back” Hart said.
Hart made it clear that it will be a tough game but the players have the mindset not that they have to get something out of the game.
It is understood that the team will be subject to changes when it returns home for another all important clash with the United States in November 17 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium. (WA)
Squad
Jan Michael Williams, Marvin Phillip, Sheldon Bateau, Radanfah Abu Bakr, Carlyle Mitchell, Justin Hoyte, Daneil Cyrus, Aubrey David, Yohance Marshall, Mekeil Wiliams, Andre Boucaud, Keron Cummings, Kevan George, Neveal Hackshaw, Khaleem Hyland, Joevin Jones, Lester Peltier, Trevin Caesar, Cordell Cato, Jonathan Glenn, Kenwyne Jones, Willis Plaza.