Opportunity beckons

“These are the guys who’ll get a chance to see what it is on the international level,” said the 54-year-old former Netherlands defender.

“They could be a part of the future so, in the next games, we would give (those) players a try and let them taste the good feeling of being a part of the new team.”

Rijsbergen made his points known following Thursday’s training session at the Larry Gomes Stadium, Arima. Fifteen players, and the technical staff, left Trinidad yesterday for London, en route to Japan, for the match.

Among those yet to play an international match are goalkeeper Marvin Phillip, midfielders Clyde Leon, Andrei Pacheco, Kendall Jagdeosingh and Stephan David.

The 15 players who left Trinidad yesterday are all involved in the Pro League, a fact that Rijsbergen was quick to elaborate on.

“We have to (send) the message to the Pro League that we’re looking (at) all the players and if they perform and we can work with them, then we’ll give them a chance to become one of the starters on the national team,” he noted. And, of course, we have more goals.

“We have qualification for the Olympics and we’ll have qualifications for the Gold Cup,” Rijsbergen continued. “So there are a lot of things to do and we’ll try to get some much talent ready to play the kind of games, with the support from the guys (based) in England and the rest of the world.

“So it will be a lot of work and the guys are very enthusiastic to be a part of this,” added Rijsbergen. “I think it’s a message to players everybody will get a chance and if they perform, it’ll be nice for them and it’ll be good for me and the rest of the staff too.”

Rijsbergen, who replaced countryman Leo Beenhakker as TT coach last month, will be using the Japan clash as a chance to expose the squad to the conditions they will face in the Far East.

“The first thing we’re looking for is, what I explained to the guys before we started training, is (to) get some experience,” he stated. “Everybody will have a chance to come on board and, of course, we’re looking for some younger guys, with some experienced players and it (should) be a very good experience for them.”

Rijsbergen continued, “If we have the form players together, then we’re looking for a good mix, the same as we had in the last World Cup, with some experienced players.

“And we (will) get some young players to start, at least, working at it, to know what it is to become a star in the next World Cup.”

Reflecting on his first training session as TT coach, Rijsbergen said, “We had a good session. I told them they have to enjoy it.”

“We have a long trip to Japan and it’ll be a very tough game that we’ll face in Tokyo but if they’re willing to work, then we’ll give Japan a very hard time,” he added.