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No
fire without smoke for Latapy
Midfielder
Russell Latapy does not feel the 2-1 loss to Wales on the
weekend is a setback to the build up for the World Cup.
Latapy was speaking at the UPC Arena after the game.
“We’re
in a no-lose situation,” said Latapy. “We’re
already the underdogs and it doesn’t matter what happens.
Losing in this friendly wasn’t a setback at all. We want
to peak for the World Cup finals, so we are working on our
game tactically, as well as getting games under our belts.
“Of
course we wanted to win but our preparation is more important.
It was a reminder that you can’t give away the ball cheaply
in international football. We want to impose ourselves on
the finals and play our football. If we do that, and we get
a bit of luck, anything could happen.”
Jack’s on the market now
Goalie Kelvin Jack is happy to be on the way to a new club.
Jack expects to sign before the World Cup as clubs have been
in touch with him during the current training camp in Austria.
Jack’s contract with Scottish club Dundee ended at the
end of the season. “I’m not sad to leave and without
knocking Dundee too much maybe Dens Park isn’t the place
to be right now. Dundee didn’t offer me a contract and
to be honest if I’d been offered one I wouldn’t
have signed it. There wasn’t a problem, I just wanted
to experience something new. There are good people at Dens
and I got on with a lot of them but I look forward to a new
challenge,” Jack said.
Scotland says thanks to club manager
Jason Scotland will be hoping to get his name on the scoresheet
in Germany as he attempts to continue his late season form
with St Johnstone FC which he is convinced went a long way
in getting him into this country’s 23-man World Cup squad.
But after having a work permit appeal turned down while at
Dundee United, Scotland is now thankful to Saints boss Owen
Coyle for letting him start regularly for his current club.
“I
owe the gaffer for the effort he made. I know clubs were sniffing
around but they weren’t willing to make the effort. My
career was going nowhere and he gave me the chance. I had
an okay season. Some games I was on top form and others were
not so good. We just need to find a bit more consistency and
hopefully we can do that next season,” Scotland said
on the weekend.
The former Defence Force man has also become a huge hit with
the Scottish fans because of his surname and several of them
will be backing the Soca Warriors at the World Cup.
Nobody’s prouder than Dwight
Captain Dwight Yorke has reminded the media in Graz that he
will be the proudest man when he leads this country’s
national team onto the pitch in Germany in a few days.
Yorke has had to meet several requests for interviews and
in most cases, just like head coach Leo Beenhakker, it has
been the same stories having to be repeated.
“The
only thing I ask is that we give a good account of ourselves
and do not become the whipping boys of the competition, getting
humiliated five, six and seven-nil. I know how good England
are. They have as good a chance as anyone else of winning
the World Cup. But how many times have we seen incredible
upsets in the World Cup? If we play to our maximum and England
are a bit off, who knows?
“I
am the leader and the one everyone looks up to. I’ve
played at the very top level and won a lot of things. People
respect that. I never saw myself as a leader but in this team
everyone sees me that way and that’s why the captaincy
was handed to me. At 34 years, this is pretty much the icing
on the cake,” he said.
I
felt out of place - Birchall
Chris
Birchall has admitted that he felt totally out of place during
his first stint with the national team during the early half
of last year.
The Port Vale player said he felt nervous around the same
guys who he now shares the same food, jokes and even rooms
with today.
“I
was really nervous. Not so much about the football but about
what the team would make of me. Would the players and fans
accept this white boy from England?” he said about his
first entry into T&T.
“I
didn’t know much about the country and customs yet here
I was hoping to play for them. Arriving was a huge culture
shock. When I got off the plane, it was roasting—about
35 degrees. So my first thought was that it would be great
for a holiday but I didn’t know if I could play football
there.”
At present, Birchall couldn’t be less “Trini”
than any of the current World Cup team members.
“I
think I’m getting more “Trini” by the day.
It’s been amazing and I have become one of them in a
short space of time.
“Word
got around a white guy joining the team for my debut game
in June—so there was a real novelty factor at the time.
“About 12,000 fans turned up but now, the fact I’m
white isn’t a big deal. I’m just another player,”
Birchall added.
Shaun
Fuentes is the press officer of the T&T World Cup Squad.
e-mail:shaunfuentes@yahoo.com
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