Hyland wants strong Gold Cup campaign

NATIONAL football team captain Khaleem Hyland is calling on his TT teammates to give their best at the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup, which will take place in the United States in June.

This year, the TT team will also feature in the CONCACAF Nations League. They begin 2019 action with a friendly international away to Wales on March 11.

Hyland said Monday, in a TT Football Association media release, “I hope we can continue to get good games in 2019 as we did in 2018 and we can give our best for the upcoming Gold Cup.

“The Gold Cup is a great competition. We made it to the quarter finals consecutively in 2013 and 2015 and we all know this competition gives us the chance to come up against teams like Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama and USA, and therefore it will be important for us to have good preparation with games and camps in order to be ready for the tournament.”

The box-to-box midfielder, who plays for Al-Faisaly in Saudi Arabia, added, “I hope we can put TT back on the map football-wise, and I think by doing well in the Gold Cup – and striving to even win it – will do a lot for us. But we need our people to support us like other countries do and bring back the love in the country through sport – especially football. We have what it takes but we need everyone on board.” TT did not qualify for the 2017 Gold Cup, missing automatic qualification under former coach Stephen Hart. Replacement coach Tom Saintfiet also failed to navigate a final set of qualifiers, losing to Suriname and Haiti at home. In six international matches this year, TT – under the guidance of coach Dennis Lawrence – won twice (against Guadeloupe and the United Arab Emirates) and lost three (to Iran, Panama and Thailand).

Hyland said 2018 was a good year for him with both country and club.

“I picked up a few more things in my career and developed more as a player both for Al Faisaly and the national team as captain. We played a lot of good countries in 2018 and we took a lot on board from those games. Any player’s dream is to represent for their country, and once we are called upon we will do what it takes to be the best at it,” Hyland said.