Eve wants Soca Warriors to go brave against Bolivia

Trinidad and Tobago’s Radanfah Abu Bakr (C) controls the ball during a training session, on Wednesday, in Bolivia, ahead of an international friendly against Bolivia, on Friday.  - TTFA Media
Trinidad and Tobago’s Radanfah Abu Bakr (C) controls the ball during a training session, on Wednesday, in Bolivia, ahead of an international friendly against Bolivia, on Friday. - TTFA Media

TRINIDAD AND Tobago men’s football team coach Angus Eve wants “to give a good performance” against hosts Bolivia on Friday, in the teams’ friendly international at Sucre, from 5 pm (TT time).

This game will be the first for TT (currently 100th in the latest FIFA rankings) since a 1-1 draw against Guatemala in the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup on July 18 in Frisco, United States.

Bolivia are 23 places ahead of TT on the December 2021 FIFA rankings, and are preparing for the resumption of their 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

In an interview on the TT Football Association (TTFA) social media channels, which was released on Thursday, Eve was asked what he will be looking to see from his squad in Friday’s friendly match.

The former TT midfielder and captain replied, “That we’ll be brave, we’ll implement what we did in the training sessions, to see the guys match their wits against one of the top teams in the world.

“If we can match them tactically and show that we can play, that will be a ‘win’ for me,” continued Eve. “We’ll want a good result, but we’ll want to give a good performance.”

Eve gave the interview on Wednesday, hours after the team landed in Bolivia, via the United States.

“I think preparation has gone well,” he said. “We thought that the atmosphere would have been a little bit more chilly, when we came up to Sucre from Santa Cruz.

“The Bolivian Federation has been very great to us thus far. I appreciate the hospitality that we have been given. We know that is only going to last until the time of the game and then again after the game, but we appreciate it anyway.”

The team held a training session at Santa Cruz on Wednesday and, according to Eve, “I think the guys were very enthusiastic. It’s a very young (and) vibrant team so the guys wanted to show what they can do.”

But Eve pointed out, “The most difficult thing we had in the session was the ball. They’re not accustomed to the Penalty (S11 Pro 8) ball, it’s very lightweight. Now that we’re further up in the altitude, it’s going to be a little bit of an adjustment for the guys.”

There were reports on Wednesday about a few players in the Bolivia camp who will be either doubtful or unavailable for Friday’s match due to covid19.

Eve said, “It’s not going to affect anything because they have a 34-man squad which have started to training since January 8. They would have had players already prepared with the group to replace those (covid-positive/affected) guys. I don’t know if they’ll be the same quality but they’re also playing for selection.

“Sometimes it’s actually harder to play bench-players who want something and (are) hungry than to play the starting players.”

Experienced central defender Radanfah Abu Bakr, in a subsequent interview, said, “I’m looking forward to it. It’s a really good opportunity, particularly for the younger boys in the group to get this exposure against what is really a good quality opposition, to get the experience of travelling and playing under these conditions.

“It should be a very beneficial exercise for everyone.”

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"Eve wants Soca Warriors to go brave against Bolivia"

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