Beenhakker to isolate Warriors

TRINIDAD and Tobago football coach Leo Beenhakker has indicated that he intends to have his players focused like never before for the 2006 World Cup qualification play-off with Bahrain on November 12 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo. The Dutch-born coach intends to address the local media immediately following his return to Trinidad on November 4 at the Piarco International Airport. He has hinted that the players will be off-limits to the media and the public at large from the time they assemble on November 7 for their live-in training camp. Beenhakker also put to rest the controversy involving David Nakhid and his alleged links with Bahrain’s preparations for the match with or without the input of the Jamaican Football Federation.

“I refuse to believe what they are saying just based on the reports in the Bahrain newspapers,” Beenhakker told TTFF Media on Friday evening. “Until there’s any evidence what can I do with it,” he said. He praised his team under the captaincy of Dwight Yorke for their commitment and professional showing over period leading up to the play-offs, saying that anything that could affect the psyche of the Warriors will be ignored. “Besides that, we know what we want, we know what we have to do. This is all garbage for us, players and staff. In football the truth is on the pitch so let us try to do our job there,” Beenhakker concluded. TT’s recent winnings have also triggered worldwide attention and has been highlighted on the official website for the 2006 World Cup, fifaworldcup.com who has been constantly in touch with the TTFF regarding access to the head coach and his players.

In an interview this week, he stressed that no player on the current team will be cast aside if other overseas-based players are to join the squad. “If they are players who can help the team then we will invite them to join us. But firstly I need to show respect to the players who worked so hard to get us where we are now. They have earned their spots and I must respect that,” he said. “I have a team that has been living together, fighting together and playing together and right now there are no problems in the team. So, bringing in someone new may not be the best idea. But that being said, if Samuel or Zamora are better than the man I have now in their position, it would be stupid not to bring them in. We will have to wait and see,” he said.

He added that the confidence in the team has grown tremendously during the second half of the campaign. “Basically, we worked very hard on certain aspects of the game that needed working on (laughs). When my coaching staff and I arrived here in Trinidad in April we realised that there were 20 very good individual players, but nothing resembling a football team,” he said.. “We focused firmly on keeping the ball, dictating the rhythm of the game and most importantly playing together as a team, as one unit. And although the (training) camps were never as long as we would have liked, little by little we built a team that was more in line with the demands of modern international football,” Beenhakker said. “Of course, with the positive results came big local support and this always helps too. It was a tremendous turnaround and now I am proud to say the team is playing with confidence and personality,” he said.