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Trinidad and Tobago will host 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup runners-up Jamaica on 24 August from 8pm at the Hasely Crawford Stadium as the Caribbean’s traditional heavyweights go head-to-head in a friendly contest.
Tickets cost $100 (covered stands) and $50 (uncovered) and will be available at all NLCB Lotto locations nationwide from Wednesday 9 August.
(Courtesy CONCACAF)
Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president David John-Williams is urging fans to pack the venue for the contest.
“This is soca versus reggae at its best,” John-Williams told the TTFA Media. “The Jamaicans are on a high at the moment and we know they always come hard when they have to face Trinidad and Tobago. We think that it is an excellent opportunity for our team to get just the kind of workout they will need before Honduras.
“It’s ‘Tallest’ versus ‘Tappa’ for Caribbean bragging rights. We want a packed house on August 24th to witness this Caribbean derby in Port of Spain.”
Ironically, the Soca Warriors’ next competitive international match against Honduras will be played at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva on 1 September rather than in Port-of-Spain—in part, because the TTFA is uncertain whether the current National Senior Team has the pulling power to fill the Hasely Crawford Stadium at present.
Trinidad and Tobago lost 1-3 away to Ecuador late last month and head coach Dennis Lawrence is happy to have another dress rehearsal before they face Honduras in a crucial 2018 World Cup qualifier.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/CA Images/Wired868)
“This game comes at an ideal time for us in preparation for Honduras,” said Lawrence. “Jamaica are in a good moment after coming off a very positive showing at the Gold Cup. They will come here looking to maintain that form, which means they will give us the kind of test we are looking for at this stage of the preparations—a week before we face Honduras.
“We will start training on August 14th for the matches coming up and this will obviously be a critical period for us, which we are all anticipating a great deal.”
At present, Jamaica are ranked 76th in the world by FIFA which is two places above Trinidad and Tobago, who are now 78th.
In their last clash with Trinidad and Tobago on home soil, the “Reggae Boyz” emerged victorious in the 2014 Caribbean Cup final but needed penalties to do so. In the last clash between them in Port-of-Spain, the Warriors won 2-0 in a friendly on 19 November, 2013.
Both teams will be under-strength since the game falls outside the FIFA match window and both nations will need special dispensations from clubs to get their foreign-based players to join the squad.
(Copyright AFP 2017/Alfredo Estrella)
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Shabazz I not here to tell you how to think or to superimpose my opinion on you that’s why it’s mine …. I like it and I own it. The theory is simple like I said some of your logic is solid but if other folks throw kick back at you you cyah be mad because your current “secular” football boss is clearly one of the sources of our footballing woes. I not here to caress your sensitive emotions ….. take the critique use it anyway you want ….I gives no f***s ….einstein cyah critique ball choose a more appropriate theme for your insults …. and keep it moving
I serve only Allah Malik Johnson and to him alone I bow in submission. Your views like others are what they are ….views. I am also entitled to mine….this is what Wired is about. If you want a debate then thats another story. And remind again what makes Malik Johnson opinion so great nah Einstein
Jamaica will also field a totally local-based squad and will start training tomorrow.
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/sports/20170815/whitmore-offered-contract-extension-ahead-tt-friendly
One country that is generally more disrespectful to local coaches than Trinidad and Tobago is Jamaica. Hope Whitmore gets a good deal for a two-year contract at least.
Shabazz you’re an interesting mofo ….your points are solid sensible ones and unfortunately at times I’m a slave to logic and I could almost admire you but …… David John Williams is absolute excrement and he’s your boss and no man can serve two gods (understand that comparison carefully and in no way is that amoeba being compared to a godlike presence) but our opinion of how the ttfa is being run is no fiction and you’re directly in it. You can’t realistically defend the ttfa for the way they’re running their organisation. A u-15 team a year or two ago got beat 22-0 and that coach was recycled to coach a u-17 team yet players like Jason Scotland is not even discussed as an option and he has a uefa b license. You can’t control your environment around you ..simply what you do I and everybody hadda eat a food … but you can’t defend the indefensible. To really getvus in the right direction we have to get the right heads together working together. …..they won’t necessarily be friends but success of football would be their common goals. Lookloy.. you…terry…shaka…sherwood….the public ….Lasana….proper marketing ….all different types with different attributes but a common positive interest. The head of the serpent though has to go …. you know it….I know it and everybody in here knows it. Not meant to be malicious but the truth can be a mutha sometimes ….you can’t serve two gods ……
Lasana. Never heard anyone defend the Saintfiet hire. In a different place, peeps in leadership responsible for that decision would be fired or resign directly after he left.
SMFH.
Confusion and more confusion is what I see the editor of this web page is doing. Most time the writing by the Owner of this page is to create a conflict between people and get a kind of respons from the mob. Most of the people who come here to comment and share what they believe is a constructive view, is just on bacchanal and comemess….
The editor seems to enjoy the confusion more than anything else. Never being balance or factual with his own views, but riding on hear say and sometimes even doing the biding of his friends and partisan.
Eh… Thanks for your feedback fellah 😉
Hahaha. What dug out was I in Jamaal? Are you going to compare losing away in extra time to a Martinique team that went on to qualify for the Gold Cup knock out stages to losing at home to Suriname?
I don’t go for low blows though Jamaal. Not meant as a slur at all. As far as I am concerned, Saintfiet was a bad appointment which did result in us not qualifying for the Gold Cup though.
Unfortunately you sat next to him. But your own record in the hot seat is far better. Because we DID qualify when you were coach.
Regarding qualifying for that said Gold Cup since you striking under the belt.
But you and your boys did not do better than Santifiet either …..
Where did the Coach say he did not want the game? You drawing me into a different realm. I prefer to stick to technical aspect
Jamaal, it might also be misleading to suggest that what the TTFA does is what the coach wants. T&T only played one practice game and against a club before the US match. But that was not what the coach wanted.
So you aren’t really defending the coach. You’re defending the TTFA.
Who here is criticising the coach?
This game is the best we could have gotten at the moment, despite the drawbacks.
Of course it would have been much better if you and your boy Saintfiet had helped us to the Gold Cup. But no point crying over spilt milk. 😉
I am speaking as a Coach not as a defender of anyone but the profession. At times I took a warm up match for Guyana knowing that only 4 players who played that game would be in the final list. But the others all came in match ready so that game was to help sharpen the other 4. So I could read and say nothing when we get all dismissive but as a coach I lend my minute iota to the thing. And for me it is better to ride the donkey than carry the donkey on your back.
My argument is that if one was to put too much emphasis on public viewpoint as a Coach you would be paralysed and do nothing. Because look at my arguments offered. Damned if you do damned if you don”t and that’s fine well give a solution. I think games against Ecuador and Jamaica are a good effort towards maximizing a proper preparation. The average person who reads a comment on social media does not know that you only get your best players assembled 4 or even 3 days before the match. I think the rod of rejection is pulled out very quickly but what are the options ?
We sacked Bertille St Clair three quarter way through our WCQ campaign in 2005 and qualified. I hope that doesn’t mean the TTFA will consider that to be shrewd management and the way to go simply because we got there in the end.
Who is to say the Soca Warriors would not have performed much better if they DID get good practice games before playing the US and Costa Rica…
First of all Jamaal, we lost to USA and Costa Rica in case you forgot. Now let’s say for argument’s sake that we did okay in both games–which I would agree with–then that means it was right to play a club team?
Jamaal, the Strike Squad played one warm up game against a Central XI before starting their campaign. So should all teams do that then? Does that become the best case scenario?
The multi dimensional value of playing friendly matches may appear not valuable to a specific game…..however in the mind of Coach A…..he may have his plan as to the value….just saying we must factor in the mind of the coach
6 of the local based players started in the Costa Rica game …and we berated playing a US club team as a warm up before USA and Costa Rica…..yet injury ….the mind of the coach proved the value of those local players playing in that game…..Now 3 of the six locals who started against Costa Rica are now foreign based.
Well my Professor I am in 1000 % agreement in giving our local players their chances in order to build a strong local team and plus they are the ones that should be always giving you their all because they will be trying to make it in the real professional leagues abroad .
To me this situation shows that you cannot allow yourself to be paralysed by public opinion. Cause if we had played Grenada some would say ….like Mango ..look who we playing ….if we played Chile ..others would say…why play a big team without we best players…if we dont play…still other great thinkers will say….shit man imagine no warm up match…..Therefore the man either ride his donkey or carry it on his back
Jamaal, I think the public feedback on the Jamaica game is almost entirely positive. If some people say it won’t help the WCQ campaign then I think that has merit too because that is almost verbatim how Stephen Hart described these games too when he was national coach.
That doesn’t mean they aren’t useful in other ways.
That is a view Lasana but the mind of a coach does not always run according to the syllabus. For coaches 1 plus 1 can be 11 instead of 2. For me I would be happy to get the ones I would use in the final game that playing time still.
The TTFA for the last 30 years since I know owes not just players coaches service providers etc. The challenge of every admin is to reduce the debt, yet find funding for operational expenses. If you reach the stage of running a country an association a business a club etc debt free …you would have achieved a remarkable milestone. Cuba is one of the most revolutionary government in the world when it comes to coup …and they have debts and owe . What say ye ?
And for someone who was involved in the 1990 coup because of the injustices against our poor and black people eh why are you still being part of the most corrupted Football organization in the universe eh, pay my players and local coaches what they rightfully deserves and the standards of our football will definitely rise once again eh.the exploitation must cease once and for all. Them really good yes.
At least we are going to play a country that understands no matter who goes out there…they represent Jamaica ….which means they have a brand and a rep to protect. I think those ingredients make for a good warm up match
so Nigel if we do not play its a problem and if we play Jamaica and they do not have their best team its a problem. The reality is that with world clubs owning the players unless its a FIFA match date you will never get your best players. Therefore coaches are forced to be creative the ones to benefit most in games like these are the local based who have a place on the 11 the 14 or 18 man squad for the actual Qualifier. Its also a useful exercise for players knocking on the door to remind the coach of their usefulness. Which FA s in the world will get a friendly or warm up game on a non Fifa match date and both teams have their best eleven or squad ?
Well Nigel said it is useful. Just not necessarily for the Honduras match since less than a handful of players from that game will be in the match squad to face Honduras.
Jamaal, by all means play the match. It is a useful exercise in terms of expanding our player pool as well as Lawrence getting games under his belt. All I am saying is that it does not achieve the stated goal of preparing for Honduras. Of course, hypothetically one or more of the players involved in the Jamaica game could go on and have a monster game against Honduras, but that would not alter my opinion.
DRESS REHEARSAL ??… well then play it at the Ato Boldon..get used to the Savannah Grass…
That is first thing that struck me Gary. They are trying to get fans into Ato Boldon and they are giving so many excuses as to why the Hasely Crawford is no good for our team.
Well why play this game there then?
Even in terms of supporters and administrators, it would make sense to have a test run of the Couva venue to me.
I doh see how this is a useful tune up for Honduras. There are only 3 players who were involved in the last World Cup Qualifier against Costa Rica who are still local-based. Curtis Gonzales, Hashim Arcia, and Nathan Lewis. Against USA, only one.
Think this is more about the coach getting acclimated to the players here. Chances are he may find couple players he would add to WCQ rotation during these exercises. So it helps somewhat. Like you, I would prefer the core team be playing more games together as well, but it is what it is. Also, truly believe the TTFA hopes to fatten their coffers given the large contingent of Jamaicans living here.
The exercise is by no means useless, but doh try to sell it as preparation for Honduras.
Fully agree.
We go take that.
Wa we go do? Jabari Lander
the Trinidad and Tobago vs Jamaica games are always good, similar to Argentina vs Brasil but on a MUCH LESSER scale.
The thing is, regardless of the high that Jamaica is on, it’s not like they will be playing with anything close to the squad they used at the Gold Cup. Most of their starting XI play in the MLS and at least one in the USL, so they would not be released.
Yeah. Would be home based squads.
Lasana Liburd so it’s gonna b a battle of the TT pro league vs JA Red stripe premier league local talents then
Colin I think so. And we usually win that battle.
Kudos! Another quality dry run/test!
As far as I’m concerned, Jamaica can’t beat Trinidad and Tobago without their British born and bred imports. So I’m expecting a T&T win.
I jus fed up of all the nonsense, a promising WC campaign and overall upward tick in TT football from 3 GCs ago to our football dangling by an oyster thread, steups
I dey lol
Fair enough
Ah inside!
A damn good test!!
Jamaica going to beat us so bad eh