Yorke doesn’t regret ‘retirement’

IN HIS latest comeback for the Trinidad and Tobago football team, Birmingham City striker Dwight Yorke says he’s ready to boost his country’s chances  in the World Cup qualifiers. The 33-year-old Yorke was a star in the Secondary Schools’ Football League when he featured in the Strike Squad campaign on the Road to Italy 1990. During his days with Aston Villa —  TT’s current technical consultant Graham Taylor signed him in 1989 —  he was part of the unsuccessful quests for the 1994 USA and 1998 France World Cups.

During the 2002 Japan/Korea qualifiers, Yorke and close friend Russell Latapy quit following their omission by team coach Rene Simoes for a qualifying clash with Jamaica, at the Queen’s Park Oval, Port-of-Spain for indiscipline. In the twilight of his career, which included stints at Manchester United and Blackburn Rovers in the English Premier League, Yorke now returns to the position he played for the Strike Squad, an attacking midfielder. Following TT’s 1-0 loss to Haiti at Shaw Park, Scarborough on Sunday, the scene of many of his triumphs with Signal Hill Senior Comprehensive, Yorke spoke about his comeback.

“I feel that I’m obviously better prepared, my first game back on a real competitive stage and it feels good. Obviously the result doesn’t prove that,” he conceded. “No-one likes to lose but I’m sure that, come Wednesday, we’ll be ready to go. I’m sure in the next (few) hours, we’ll get things right and that’s more important,” he said. Yorke, who has had a love-hate relationship with the local football administration and the general public throughout the years, was adamant that he didn’t mind how local fans would accept him back into the fold. “I’ve gotten an opportunity and an obligation to play for my country,” he noted. “I wouldn’t be the first that came out of retirement to represent my country.” And he’s unapologetic for his many indiscretions over the years, in particular his hasty retirement from international football.

“No, I’ve never regretted what I’ve done,” he stressed. “Up to this day I’ve stood by what I’ve done. I don’t have to apologise and at the end of the day, people make decisions and I’m one of them,” he said. But he welcomes a good turnout at the Oval tomorrow, when Trinidad and Tobago begin their final round quest for the “Journey to Germany 2006.” “I expect a good crowd to turn out,” he said. “After all, we’re playing America. They’ve beaten us in the past and this is a good time for us to get our revenge,” he said. “We’ll need the support of Trinidad and Tobago. I’m sure they would be there and we can give a good account of ourselves,” he ended.