St Clair plans football squad for Iraq match

TRINIDAD and Tobago football coach Bertille St Clair will at the end of this week finalise the  squad to travel for England on May 18 for a two-week training camp leading up to the start of the 2006 World Cup qualifiers against Dominican Republic in June. St Clair conducted a session at the Larry Gomes Stadium, Malabar yesterday and will hold another at UWI Grounds, St Augustine on Friday. Then he will name the squad to travel to the National Sports Centre in Lilleshall, England for the camp ahead of the international friendly against Iraq on May 23.

Following that clash which is part of the goodwill tour planned by the English FA, the TT footballers will go to Edinburgh for a May 30 match against Scotland. St Clair is expects to have several of his European-based players available for the two matches and make maximum use of the training camp. “I am definitely looking forward to this visit to England and Scotland since it is another chance for me to pull together the local guys with those who are playing overseas,” St Clair said yesterday. “If we have to field our best team then we must be able to bring the best players together regularly. We are fortunate to have so many guys playing professionally abroad and we also have some very talented players in the local league,” the Tobagonian added. “We now have to blend them into one, strong unit for the World Cup matches. Not only that but in England we will be training in a football environment where they understand what  professional football is all about and where they are accustomed to training hard, day in and day out,” he said.

Scottish-based midfielder Brent Rahim has recovered from a calf injury and is available, while Portsmouth goalkeeper Shaka Hislop, Livingston defender Marvin Andrews, Bristol City striker Anthony Rougier, Birmingham City’s Stern John, Wrexham duo Dennis Lawrence and Hector Sam, Dundee striker Jason Scotland and defender Brent Sancho are also expected to be in the team for the two upcoming matches. TT also play Northern Ireland in a friendly at the Dwight Yorke Stadium before travelling to Santo Domingo to face Dominican Republic in the first leg of the  World Cup qualifier on June 13. The second leg is carded for June 20 in Port-of-Spain.