Wolfe to bare fangs in Gold Cup

WHILE one of his idols was enjoying his much publicised arrival in Sydney, Australia to kick off a new club tenure,  young wingback Glenton Wolfe was still soaking in the feeling of breaking into the Trinidad and Tobago team. The squad is currently in a  training camp in Ft Lauderdale before heading off to Miami on Monday for the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup. TT skipper Dwight Yorke was the man of the moment in Sydney on Thursday as he met with several distinguished guests, clubmates and the media. On the other side of the globe, for Wolfe, it has been a week of intense double-session days under head coach Leo Beenhakker, whom he is trying to convince that he is worthy of a pick. 

Safe to say so far, Beenhakker has seen something in this member of National Quarries North East Stars  team to still have him in the set-up. Wolfe was born December 31, 1981 and grew up in North Manzanilla, the same area as Scottish-based striker Collin Samuel who was a teammate of his at the Manzanilla Government School. But they had to part ways because Wolfe was unable to attend secondary school while Samuel went on to Mayaro Composite before joining the professional ranks. Wolfe grew up playing with his younger brother Anthony who is also a member of North East Stars and a training member of the national team. But his  story has been an up and down one, having come from an extremely humble family background he spent time in the garden and selling on the roadside, as a way of making ends meet, before he got the break to play for North East.

Before that, at age 16 after missing out on  a chance to attend Mayaro Composite to play in the SSFL due to lack of funds, Wolfe had stints with Manzanillia United and East West FC in Five Rivers. Then the chance to try out for Stars came after a recommendation from friend Keston De La Rosa. Since then, he has been one of the key members of Jimmy McLean’s Stars outfit, helping them to the 2003 FA Cup title and 2004 Pro League title. When asked who is his most admired coach, Wolfe replied, “Leo Beenhakker because he’s shown faith in me and he’s willing to give me the chance to make that breakthrough. But Jimmy has also been the one sticking behind me all the time before that.” Wolfe says he also admires Samuel, having seen him move up the ranks from “Manzan” to Dundee, as well as Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho.

He is determined to keep riding the waves after making his debut on May 25 in the 4-1 win over Bermuda and also travelling with the team for the recent match against Mexico. “I’ve grown up eating saltfish and dumpling, planting in the garden and running ball on the beach. And now to get a chance to do something and be recognised for it is a real amazing feeling,” he said. “I’m here in Miami now with a chance to play for Trinidad and Tobago and make something good happen,” Wolfe said at the Hilton in Fort Lauderdale. “I have done the hard things, playing with North East and not getting paid because we didn’t have a sponsor during that season when we won the FA and the Pro League and then to finally get something for all the hard work. The club is now in a better position and I want to thank everyone there for working to make something good happen,” he said.

Wolfe also had the chance to meet Harvey Borris, Consulate General of TT in Miami at the Hilton on Thursday as he paid a courtesy visit to the team, wishing the players well and offering any support necessary during their stay in Miami for the first stage of the Gold Cup. “You guys are making us very proud with what you are doing on the football pitch. Tears came out my eyes when I looked at the match against Mexico and saw how well you all played and were able to hold them down. It showed just how capable we are of achieving success and we have all belief that once you can keep this up, we can definitely get to the World Cup stage,” Borris addressed the players. Beenhakker, after an early morning training session on Thursday, allowed Wolfe and company the evening off before taking the pitch once again at 9 am for another double session day leading up to the weekend.