Warriors head for Germany

TRINIDAD and Tobago’s footballers will keep their heads up and enter Germany with pride and big ambitions despite a 3-0 defeat to Czech Republic yesterday.
This was the message from captain Dwight Yorke after his team conceded three first half goals in their final warm-up international before their opening 2006 World Cup fixture against Sweden.
The Soca Warriors will depart Prague early today and will pass through Frankfurt on the way to making an official arrival as a World Cup team in Bremen at around 10 am (4 am TT time). The team will then journey by bus and escorted by Mayor Detlef Eichinger for about 40 minutes to Rotenburg.
A big welcome is expected for the team in Rotenburg which will check in at the Landhaus Wachtelhof Hotel.
With Rotenburg virtually transformed into a “Little TT”, the mayor will then host an official welcome reception later in the evening at the City Square.
Looking back at what was a third consecutive defeat for his team, Yorke said it was only obvious to be disappointed but once again he felt the team had no cause for major alarms.
“Obviously it was a disappointing result for us but this is not going to take away too much from us because we have three bigger matches to play in Germany and we will go there tomorrow with all the ambition,” Yorke said shortly after the match in Prague.
“We are still optimistic but we know it’s going to be extremely hard and we know it was always going to be extremely hard. We are not taking that for granted. The one good thing about this result is that it does not count and next Saturday is when it really starts and that’s when it matters,” he said.
He said the match was a worthwhile exercise a week before his team faces Sweden in the opening Group “B” match of the World Cup Finals in Dortmund.
“I think that is right. The manager said he was the one that prepared the matches and this is one he wanted us to have. This is exactly it and one thing we can take from this is that in the first half we were taught a football lesson.”
And Yorke said England and Sweden should not start counting their goals.
“If we think for a moment that England and Sweden are going to beat us 5-0 then we might as well not turn up. What we have to ensure is when we go to play on June 10, 15 and 20 is that we can give a good account of ourselves,” Yorke added.
In spite of the loss, Beenhakker was not disturbed.
“I was very happy with the match and I will explain why. My players are not used to this way of football, this way in Europe. It’s much more faster and physical. So it was my choice to have very tough matches for them versus Slovenia and the Czechs — one of the best teams in the world actually. “So we knew it would be very difficult but I prefer to have the problems now and at least they have the experience as to what they can expect in the World Cup and I prefer they are surprised now instead of next week after the Sweden match,” he said. “The problem is not how good the opponent is.
The problem is how good we are and how many mistakes we make and that is the big battle with this team.
“The question is whether we are good enough to go with the opponents on this level and I can assure you we have learnt enough. Whether it’s good enough well we will find out,” he said. Beenhakker doesn’t think today’s scoreline should mean that TT should forget all about causing an upset or two at the Finals. “We always have a chance. You never know who to put your money on. Football always has surprises and that’s the beautiful thing about it,” he said.
And finally, when asked whether he heard about the England 6-0 win over Jamaica, Beenhakker added: “Oh! But come on. This is Jamaica we are talking about against England. England are preparing for the big stage and that result is not in any relation to us and how we will prepare for our matches and how we will play in the World Cup.”
Following the 3-0 loss, there were no major injury worries with midfielder Densill Theobald nursing a knock to the ankle but he will be able to train as early as next week while Cyd Gray suffered slight damage to a finger tissue.