Scots name powerful team for TT

SCOTLAND’S German manager Berti Vogts has named a powerful squad to take on Trinidad and Tobago in a friendly international on May 30. Included in the 25-man squad are Manchester United rising star midfielder Darren Fletcher, striker Paul Dickov and defender Christian Dailly. The game is scheduled for Easter Road, Edinburgh, and will serve as  preparation for the Scots’ World Cup qualifier against Slovenia the following Saturday. Trinidad and Tobago are getting ready for their CONCACAF zone World Cup preliminaries.

Vogts has been under pressure from the Scottish media to produce some results after a lean spell including a recent 1-0 defeat to Denmark, and the writers will be looking at this match against Trinidad and Tobago very closely. National coach Bertille St Clair said he expects the game against Scotland to be a tough one, but his team will be no pushovers. He said: “The game against Scotland will be tough for us because they have been playing at a higher level and we are playing them in their own backyard. “This is what we need to do on a regular basis.  It fits into our plans on the road to Germany 2006 along with other warm-up games and the recently revived Digicel Caribbean Cup.” St Clair said matches like those against Scotland give his players a great opportunity, especially the younger ones who will learn a lot.

He said on taking the job as coach, he developed a plan for the World Cup with several objectives, to expose as many players as possible instead of deciding on a squad without seeing who else is out there. St Clair said the door will be open for a while because there are players in Britain and the United States he will like to see. He noted the Caribbean Cup is back, and pointed to it as another avenue “to introduce a whole new group of players to international football.” A Trinidad and Tobago squad is scheduled to leave for England for a camp at Lilleshall on May 18, prior to playing a “friendly” against Iraq at West Bromwich Albion Stadium on May 23.

The Scottish squad is: Paul Gallacher, Craig Gordon, Scott Shearer (goalkeepers); Gary Caldwell, Steven Caldwell, Stephen Crainey, Christian Dailly, Malcolm Mackay, Jackie McNamara, David McNamee, Steven Pressley, Andy Webster (defenders); Colin Cameron, Peter Canero, Darren Fletcher, Gary Holt, Stephen Pearson, Nigel Quashie (midfielders; Stephen Crawford, Paul Dickov, Andy Gray, Kevin Kyle, James McFadden, Kenny Miller, Steven Thompson (strikers).