TT footballers face chilly Kenya conditions

NAIROBI: Trinidad and Tobago footballers are likely to face chilly conditions when they take on Kenya in their international friendly in Nairobi tomorrow. But the national team has been coping well with the chilly conditions and had  another intense two training sessions on yesterday’s second day ahead of game.

A crowd of approximately 35,000 fans are expected to be at the 60,000-capacity Moi International Sport complex, according to Simon Wiseman of Sportwise Management, organisers of the Trinidasd and Tobago team’s visit. Coach Stuart Charles-Fevrier will put his squad through one more session today and the team will later pay a visit to an elephant park in Nairobi, not too far from their hotel. Yesterday’s second day of this historic tour of Africa brought a unique occurrence at the Utalii Hotel, here. Members of the national team met face to face with FIFA vice-president and TTFF special advisor Jack Austin Warner for discussions on the state of the team and their journey forward.

The meeting took place half-an-hour before yesterday’s training session  shortly aftrer Warner’s arrival from London. At the meeting, Warner, accompanied by TTFF secretary Richard Groden assured the players and technical staff that the necessary support would be given to them from now onwards, as the team continue their preparations for their 2006 World Cup campaign. The players were also allowed to voice their individual opinions and later skipper Reynold Carrington and his squad expressed satisfaction with  current conditions, and indicated their focus to get on with the football. Midfielder Travis Mulraine, an ex-captain told Warner that the current players union was in no way formed to oppose the TTFF. “I think the meeting was  a very productive one from the standpoint that Mr Warner gave his full support to the national team and, for the first time we are really seeing a coach who is trying to bridge the gap between the federation and the players, trying to melt us together,” Mulraine said after a session at the Tuska Brewery ground.