|
|
|
|
|
|
| YOUNG WARRIORS WAIT ON CHANCE TO MAKE BETTER HISTORY |
|
|
When Dwight Yorke led Trinidad and Tobago’s National Under 20 team on the playing pitch at the Estadio Primeiro Maio Braga in Portugal for its first game of the 1991 FIFA Under 20 World Championship, there was a crowd of 1,720 which witnessed a 2-0 victory for Australia. Around 50,000 tickets have been sold so far for this game so far but the local organizing committee expects sales to hit the top on match day. According to a FIFA statement on Tuesday, it is expected that His Excellency the President Hosni Mubarak as well as Joseph S. Blatter the FIFA President and Vice President Jack Warner will attend the match and grand opening ceremony. At a time when governments around the world, including the Egyptian government, are taking precautions over the H1N1 Swine flu virus, these measures may work in their favour. The local government recently postponed the start of the academic year until next month but they haven't issued warnings against attending the tournament, and this has given the students the opportunity to go and watch their national team.The Egyptians are currently advertising the tournament through posters filling the streets, especially those of FIFA's official partner Coca-Cola, which boast the tournament logo and pictures of the team. A large number of Egyptians, especially those from the capital, are currently travelling to the countryside and coastal resorts for their holidays, which will last until just after the kick-off in the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2009. Although there are some concerns over the effect the Eid ul-Fitr festival, which the country is still celebrating, will have on attendances at the tournament, officials on the local organising committee, including the tournament director Khaled Abdel-Aziz, believe this will act in their favour. "The Eid and holiday period will be a great opportunity for the Egyptian public to get behind their team and cheer them to victory. The crowd will turn out to support our team especially if they are winning. The Egyptians love sport and love to win,” said Abdel-Aziz. Egypt, officially known as the Arab Republic of Egypt, is located in north-east Africa and home to around 78 million people from a wide variety of ethnic origins, including Arab, Berber, Bedouin, southern European and African. It is bound by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Israel and the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west Back in 1991, the T&T starting team that faced Australia in its first game included the likes of Anthony Sherwood, Michael McComie, Jerren Nixon, Angus Eve, Dean Pacheco, Shawn Boney, Kirk Trotman, Nigel Davidson, Kerwin Emmanuel, Dale Boucher and Yorke. Australia had in goal former Aston Villa keeper Mark Bosnich. The “Aussies” won on goals by Paul Okon in the 52nd and David Seal in the 76th. T&T, under coach Bertille St Clair, subsequently went on to lose to Egypt 6-0 in their next game and then 4-0 to the Soviet Union Tomorrow (Thursday) T&T will rely on their experience of Belgium-based pro Khaleem Hyland, German-based striker Jamal Gay, the agile Glenroy Samuel in goal, Jean Luc Rochford, Daneil Cyrus, Southampton midfielder Jake Thomson, defender Akeem Adams, strikers Qian Grosvenor and Juma Clarence, experienced defender Robert Primus, Sean De Silva and Paul among the others. “We would love to make history and make up for what the team did not achieve in 1991. I think it was a great achievement getting to Portugal and Dwight Yorke and the others moved on to some good careers. We want to do the same but want to do even better,” Paul told TTFF Media on Tuesday. “Maybe right now some of the boys are a little nervous but we will get over that by game time. We are focusing from now on the match because the coach has taught us how to get mentally ready and the session with Spencer Wood has helped us. We will try our best to use what we have learnt in the sessions. A small T&T fan contingent of just over 50 persons will be in the Stadium on Thursday to drum up some support for the young “Soca Warriors”. The final 21-man squad was submitted to FIFA for the tournament. The lone player missing out was Joe Public defender Marvin Manswell who sustained a knee injury in T&T’s 2-0 loss to the United States last week in Aiya Napa, Cyprus. Manswell will remain with the T&T team for the duration of their stay in Egypt. (Sept 22,2009) T&T get taste of Egyptian Army Stadium National Under 20 Football Team captain Leston Paul and his teammates got their first feel of Egypt on Monday as they arrived in Alexandria as one of the featured teams for the gala kick off and opening ceremony for the 2009 FIFA Under 20 World Championship on Thursday at the Egyptian Army Stadium. After checking in at the luxurious Radisson Hotel just after midnight Egypt time, six hours ahead of T&T time, the T&T contingent were afforded top of the line treatment and accommodation that comes with a prestigious FIFA tournament. “For the 17th time, the world's best young footballers go in search of glory at the most important junior tournament of them all, the FIFA U-20 World Cup. The 2009 edition in Egypt from 24 September to 16 October features 24 teams and 504 players, all dreaming of winning the prestigious trophy,” a FIFA statement read on Monday. "The FIFA U-20 World Cup is a very important tournament, which over the last 30 years, has repeatedly unearthed future stars such as Maradona, Ronaldinho and Messi. I'm certain new talents will be discovered at the 2009 tournament in Egypt," declared FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter on the eve of the second FIFA contest to be held in Egypt. FIFA further added that Egypt will need to win its opening game to impress their home fans and se t the stage for the rest of the tournament. “That makes it doubly important for the FIFA U-20 World Cup hosts to start with a win in the opening match against Trinidad and Tobago. No team from the Caribbean island nation has ever won a game at a FIFA finals tournament, and the Soca Warriors' up-and-coming youngsters consequently rate as underdogs in Group ,” fifa.com stated. As the T&T team arrived at the match venue – the Egyptian Army Stadium, for its training session at 7pm, there were loads of activities taking place as FIFA and the Local Organizing Committee officials were hard at work, putting the final touches in place for Thursday’s opening ceremony. Following its one hour session, the T&T team then made way for the hosts to practice soon after. The daytime conditions are relatively warm, not as humid as Cyprus and the temperature dropped to around 24 degrees as night approached. T&T head coach Zoran Vranes says he expects his players to perform better in training in the remaining two days leading up the Thursday’s match which kicks off at 8pm (2pm TT Time). “I was a little bit disappointed with the training. This pitch is very fast but we will adjust to it,” Vranes told TTFF Media. “It was something that we have to think about a bit more. But I expect our sessions over the next couple days will get better. We have a challenge to get ready for Thursday. We saw tonight the size of the stadium and the crowd will be tremendous. I think the players will be very anxious and we have to make sure they are mentally and physically ready. I see no reason why we will not be ready because we have prepared very long for this. Of course it’s an opening game and eyes all around the world will be on Trinidad and Tobago but I have no fear that we will be ready,” he added. FIFA Vice President Jack Warner and his contingent arrived in Cairo on Monday night and will be present at Thursday’s grand kick off. (Sept 21,2009) |
| <Previous | Next> |
|---|