Warriors aim to enjoy W/Cup

TRINIDAD and Tobago national football team coach Leo Beenhakker and the members of his World Cup squad met the British media yesterday in Manchester and sent a clear message. With team captain Dwight Yorke at his side, Beenhakker said that the main focus of the Soca Warriors was their next competitive match and not how to play England on June 15 at the World Cup Finals.

Beenhakker conducted a light session yesterday morning and allowed a large number of correspondents to watch the team followed by the media conference which went smoothly for about half hour.

Then the entire squad was given the chance to be interviewed by several television stations such as ITV, BBC, Granada Sports, Daily Mail, News of the World and others.

The Soca Warriors were in the spotlight for no less than 90 minutes and Yorke was the last player to head back to his room.

Having already put a cap on the amount of open days for media related activities, Beenhakker seemed undisturbed by the persistent reporters.

“We are always focused on the next match. The most important match in their careers is always the next match.

“We will be professional and we will prepare for all of them. We will think about England after we play Sweden,” Beenhakker said when asked about how his team will prepare to play England in Nuremburg.

He also stressed that he will not take his team into the World Cup under any kind of pressure and while he intends to ensure they are totally focused and prepared, he will not prevent them from enjoying the experience.

“In general I said you can’t play football if you don’t enjoy it. I don’t like to see players stressed. We played a lot of matches with a lot of responsibility and pressure and you can see that in our last three matches (qualifiers).

“The amazing thing in football is that when you cannot handle the pressure, then you can’t handle the match at this level.

It has to be a healthy kind of pressure and they have all assured me that they can handle it very well. We will talk a lot and prepare perfectly in everyway.

My last message will be before they go on the pitch will be to enjoy it and have fun,” Beenhakker said.

He informed the audience of mostly English, Scottish, Welsh and Swedish correspondents that the Caribbean mentality is one of trying to enjoy experiences to the maximum.

“It’s confirmed in the Caribbean because one of our biggest fans said before we left the Caribbean ‘Ole, Ole, Ole’ and that’s the way we are going to play. I am impressed and if you see Ronaldinho, he’s always laughing at the same time. He is fighting for his team but he hates losing and he stays relaxed,” the former Real Madrid coach said.

The Dutchman also referred to a statement made by President George Maxwell Richards at the team’s farewell dinner at the Dr Joao Havelange Centre of Excellence last Friday, causing laughter from the players.

His closing statements certainly brought a a bit of Caribbean warmth to what has been a chilly Carden Park experiences for the Soca Warriors.