National football coach Dennis Lawrence held his first training session with his squad of players at the Larry Gomes Stadium in Malabar Arima, yesterday, ahead of the two Fifa World Cup Qualifiers on March 24-25 against Panama and Mexico at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo.
Only defenders Julius James and Radanfah Abu Bakr were missing from an otherwise full turn-out of players and staff members. The session lasted an hour and 10 minutes and according to Lawrence, they will train everyday this week until Saturday, where they will break for the Carnival festivities and return on Ash Wednesday.
He noted that both Abu Bakr and James are both out of the country, having made arrangements to be abroad long before the training session was called.
He said both players and coaches were excited to begin training yesterday, which they used basically to acquaint themselves with each other, as well as formalise how they will function going forward. Before yesterday’s session, members of the staff-that included assistant coaches Ross Russell (goalkeeper coach), Stern John (assistant coach) and Stuart Charles-Fevrier ,were briefed on what was expected of them.
Lawrence, a former national stand-out defender is not expecting any challenges due to the Carnival season, promising he will keep his players focussed by doing his job on a daily basis. “I cannot put a string on them and tell them don’t go parties, as they are all grown men, they are all professionals, so they know exactly what I expect of them, so I expect them to carried it out,” Lawrence said.
The T&T team is second from bottom on the six-team standing and are in need of victories in their coming two matches next month, following losses to Costa Rica 2-0 and Honduras 3-1 last year.
They are scheduled to face Suriname in an International Friendly encounter on March 10 at the Andre Kamperveen Stadium in Paramaribo, Suriname. The match has been arranged specifically for the local based players. Lawrence pointed out that while he faces a difficult task of taking the country to the World Cup, he believes it is not an impossible one and promised to ensure the team is properly prepared to give a good account of themselves on match days and hopefully get the required results.
Sol Campbell, the team’s other assistant coach is expected to join them on March 10.
