Leo hails Yorke and Samuel

TRINIDAD and Tobago football team coach Leo Beenhakker has paid tribute to Dwight Yorke and Collin Samuel after the Soca Warriors beat Iceland 2-0 in London, England on Tuesday. But the Dutchman admitted there is much to do before the Soca Warriors are ready for the World Cup Finals in June. I’m pleased with the result,” he said, “but I will not be celebrating for three nights. It’s a preparation match, and we’ve won it which is good for the confidence. We can do much better,” he said. Yorke gave a dazzling performance and his interaction stood out with Samuel and Carlos Edwards, the two wingers who ply their trade in Britain for Dundee United and Luton Town respectively. However Iceland are not merely a mediocre team; they also seemed largely uninterested on Tuesday.

Nonetheless, the former Manchester United forward, now 34, was at the heart of most of his team’s best attacking moves, sitting deep off Stern John, and pulling strings as a veteran of his class should. “That’s why we invited him,” said Beenhakker. “He’s a good player. I know that some people are talking about his age and stuff like that, but so long as he’s fit he’s a great player not only in an individual way but for the team. He’s a great help to me. I can give him a message and he can translate it on to the pitch. He’s a very important player. He can always bring you something extra,” said Beenhakker. The Dutchman insisted he had no qualms about the way Yorke, who now plays for Sydney FC, took his second goal — a penalty, stabbing his shot so it floated over the dive of Arni Arason, the Iceland goalkeeper.

“I’m happy because it went in the net,” he said. “That’s why he’ s a great player.” Besides Yorke, the two wingers were both admirably quick and direct, and it was Samuel who laid on the opening goal. His cross was only half-cleared by Stefan Gislason, allowing Yorke to stroke a confident finish into the top corner from 10 yards. It was also Samuel’s ball nine minutes into the second half that led to Ivar Ingimarsson shoving Stern John, conceding the penalty from which Yorke scored the second. “He did well, very well,” Beenhakker said. “I invited him two or three times in qualification matches. At that time I didn’t have a good impression of him but he is doing much better. I had that information already from the guys working for me in Great Britain, and I was very happy in his performance.”   

The defence was less convincing particularly given the comparative weakness of the opposition but, as Beenhakker feels solidity is something that will come with practice. “We can improve in terms of organisation and the way they play as a team,” he said. “I’m confident we can use the four weeks preparation time before the World Cup to our advantage.” His main disappointment was the frequency with which Trinidad and Tobago opted for a route one approach, although in fairness that wasn’t obviously excessive. 

“Nobody has to tell me we still have to do a lot of work to be successful in Germany,” he said. “But our situation is that we have not been together in three months. We’ve had no training sessions so I couldn’t ask much more.  That’s not the way I want to play, but it’s always the same when you have such a short time together. When players are playing all over the world in Britain, Australia, Japan, the USA all coming from different football cultures it’s difficult,” he said. Trinidad and Tobago will be taking part in their first ever World Cup in Germany and are grouped with top-seeded England, Sweden and Paraguay.