The T&T World Cup Squad - Who, Where and Why

Is this a good squad? Definitely.

I’m officially excited. Yes, I’ve been counting down to the World Cup ever since we beat Bahrain. Yes, I’ve been blogging about the Warriors virtually every day for a couple of months now. But it’s only now that I’ve really been hit by World Cup Fever.

The long running debate over which keepers Beenie Man would send to Germany is finally resolved: it’ll be either Shaka Hislop, Kelvin Jack or Clayton Ince between the sticks. The question now, of course, is who the first choice goalie will be. Given Jack’s injury and Ince’s lack of Premiership experience, Shaka is my first preference.

On with the squad then…

Beenie’s selection is very, very familiar - it’s almost identical to the one he used for the TRI vs ISL friendly, with a few minor changes. That and it’s exactly the squad that went to Bahrain, with the addition of Anthony Rougier. Anthony Warner has been demoted, as Bob rightly pointed out. So have Nigel Henry (Defender) and Ricky Shakes (Striker/Midfield). This latter change is unsurprising. Nigel Henry is a solid but unspectacular defender, and Shakes is blessed with youth and pace, but he failed to impress in the Iceland match (after coming on for Carlos Edwards).

I have to mention how delighted I am to see Brent Sancho on the list. He’s a Warrior to the core, and will play his heart out in Germany.

Other additions:

- Ian Cox, Sancho’s teammate at Gillingham: Reassuring presence in defence, played in the second half of our second-leg victory against Bahrain. Coaxed out of international retirement to play for T&T.

- Atiba Charles - Speedy central defender.

- Anthony Rougier - A very interesting choice here. One of the elder statesment of T&T football. A past national captain (1999, captained the victorious Copa Caribe squad), Rougier is a workhorse. He’s not the fastest player, but he is strong and is as comfortable up front as he is in defence. Significant international experience as well. I can’t wait to see where Beenie puts him.

- Anthony Wolfe - Another interesting choice in this striker. An unused sub during the Bahrain games, Wolfe impressed Beenie at a training camp for younger players held in Florida this year, scoring the winner over Florida International University. Apparently he’s also been scoring goals galore in the T&T professional league.

- Densill Theobald - Brilliant central midfielder, scored his first goal in a World Cup qualifier against the Dominican Republic in 2004 - that goal was declared the “goal of the game.” Possibly the most macabre nickname on the squad - “Bleeder“.

- Jason Scotland - This striker has been in ripping form lately, most recently notching a hattrick for his club, St. Johnstone. Let’s see some of that action against England.

- Cornell Glenn - Stylish, prolific young striker. Major weakness is his lack of international experience. Even if he doesn’t start in this World Cup, he’s definitely one to watch in the future. You heard it here first.

Scott Sealy - Extremely girly confession - I used to check this guy out back when he was playing for his secondary school in Trinidad. Since those heady days of Intercol 2000, Sealy’s rise has been meteoric. He’s carved out a very comfortable niche for himself in the US Major League, regularly scoring goals for the Kansas City Wizards. He performed consistently for the T&T youth teams, on top of being a national record holder - for swimming!
He’s only on stand-by, but Sealy will be another one to watch - and not just for aesthetic reasons.

- Hector Sam - Curiouser and curiouser. Sam broke his leg in August 2005, and was thus out of commission for several months. Since recovering, he’ been playing for the Port Vale reserves, and even then not for a full 90 minutes. That said, for him to even be on stand-by means that Beenie thinks he has potential.

Regarding that choice of 24 - how evil is that? One player is going to get dropped after our friendly against Peru on May 10th. One player. Who will it be? That must be the question on all of the Warriors’ minds - with the exception of Yorke, Birchall, Lawrence, Hislop, Edwards…oh alright. It’s the question on the minds of at least a few. Including mine.

[Mad props to the amazing Soca Warriors Online website. It is the definitive reference for all things to do with the Warriors, and the comprehensive player profiles have helped me enormously. Thank you, Mr. Flex Mohammed]