Eve: Soca Warriors have shown commitment

ANGUS EVE, coach of the Trinidad and Tobago football team, is impressed with the commitment shown by his players during their campaign in League B, Group C of the Concacaf Nations League League.

TT will be away to St Vincent and the Grenadines in their third game of the 2022-23 competition, at the Arnos Vale Recreation Ground, Kingstown, from 3 pm.

Last Friday, TT were beaten 2-1 away to Nicaragua but responded with a 1-0 victory over Bahamas at home on Monday.

Nicaragua lead the four-team standings with four points from two games, followed by TT and Bahamas (three points apiece), and St Vincent and the Grenadines (one).

On Wednesday, a media release from the TT Football Association (TTFA) said defender/midfielder Joevin Jones did not travel with the 23-man squad to St Vincent and will not feature in the match.

During an interview on the TTFA social media channels, Eve said, “I think the spirit has been good. I don’t care which guy we’ve selected.

“We have about 35-odd players that we’ve been working with but only 23 can make the squad at any one time,” added the ex-TT midfielder and captain. “We’re pretty happy with the group that we have here. The guys are really committed to putting Trinidad (and Tobago) back up on the (football) map and you can see the level of commitment and responsibility.”

Commenting on the team’s training session on Wednesday at Arnos Vale, Eve said, “A good session, on a difficult pitch, but we’re not going to take on the negative.

“(There are) lots of big patches on the park and there is also a cricket pitch at the middle of it, which was very soggy because it had a lot of rain. But the guys are all in good spirits. We trained well.”

What does he expect from St Vincent and the Grenadines? Eve replied, “The last time we played them, we lost 1-0 and we’re looking to turn around that type of result.

“Looking at the tapes, they are a very plucky outfit. They seem to be very organised. We would like to come away with the three points."