St Clair’s ‘Soca Warriors’ vs Samba men

DWIGHT YORKE has indicated his willingness to wear national colours on the football field again. National football coach Bertille St Clair said the Blackburn Rovers striker agreed to join the Trinidad and Tobago squad later in their World Cup campaign. St Clair who visited England recently said: “Talks went great and I had a long discussion with Dwight and he is going to be part of this programme.” Two years ago, Yorke and then national skipper Russell Latapy withdrew from the national team and vowed never to play for Trinidad and Tobago again. Meanwhile St Clair will be in charge of the national footballers for the first time since his re-appointment, in tonight’s Soca vs Samba extravaganza, at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo. 

Only last month the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation handed back the coaching job to Tobagonian St Clair, who plans to use his full complement of 18 players in the match against a Brazil All-Star team, timed to kick off at 6.30 pm. Only 14 of the 16-member Brazilian team, coached by 1994 World Cup captain and defender Branco arrived early yesterday, and they had a light session at the Mucurapo venue last night. Bebeto and Jorginho were due to join the All-Star team this morning. Defender Ricardo Rocha who will lead the Brazilians said:  “This is an important match because it is against a national team and any national team is a test for us.” Included in the team are Careca, who was part of Brazil’s 1986 and 1990 World Cup squad, fellow 1994 World Cup winning striker Bebeto, who also played in the 1990 and 1998 tournaments, and right-back Jorginho, a member of the 1994 squad.

The Trinidad and Tobago lads held two practice sessions at the Stadium yesterday and, following the morning warm-up, St Clair stated: “It’s a new beginning and there are a few guys that I’ve known before. I think they look sharp.” Regarding his plans, he noted: “I will do that (use all 18) in order to expose them as much as possible because this game is about building. We have a little amount of time to get the right chemistry so we’ll use this game as we’re in the development stage.” If the Tobago-born tactician does that, then it will mean an international debut for SWIF defender Larry McDonald and CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh goalkeeper Daurance Williams and midfielder Michael Celestine. St Clair was unable to join the Trinidad and Tobago team during last week’s tour of Bermuda as he was recovering from stomach pains suffered during a visit to England. In his absence assistant coach Ron La Forest worked with the squad who won the first of two matches against the hosts 1-0 on February 10 and drew the other 2-2 two days later.

Teams: TRINIDAD & TOBAGO: Clayton Ince, Daurance Williams (goalkeepers); Marvin Andrews, Anton Pierre, Ansil Elcock, Cyd Gray, Derek King, Larry McDonald, Nigel Daniel, Corey Rivers (defenders); Angus Eve (capt), Silvio Spann, Michael Celestine, Kerry Baptiste, Carlos Edwards (midfielders); Cornell Glen, Ashford Legerton, Stern John (strikers).
BRAZIL: Ricardo Rocha (capt), Bebeto, Jorginho, Alexandre Torres, Careca, Walber, Wagner, Jose Carlos, Haroldo, Edinho, Goncalves, Joelton, Adriano, Fagner, Charles Guerrairo, Sergio Manoel.