Eve upbeat despite clubs not releasing players for Jamaica friendlies

DESPITE some domestic football clubs refusing to release players for national team training ahead of Trinidad and Tobago’s two international friendlies against Jamaica on March 11 and 14, head coach Angus Eve remains upbeat on his team’s chances against their regional rivals.

Eve said some clubs chose to keep their players in training in preparation for the new TT Premier Football League since the Jamaica clash does not fall within the official FIFA international window.

However, he said, both matches serve as a crucial gauge for locally-based players attempting to break into the senior team ahead of the Concacaf Nations League and Gold Cup qualifiers versus the Bahamas in Nassau on March 24 and against Nicaragua on March 27 at the Dwight Yorke Stadium, Tobago.

Before the new domestic league was announced three weeks ago, Eve’s local crop of players trained together twice per week.

But with the league carded to begin on March 10, outside FIFA’s international break, some clubs have downplayed the Jamaica clash and have opted to keep their player assets in-house.

Despite this drawback, Eve is quietly confident.

“We started (back training) in November where we had the guys for two days a week just doing some maintenance work initially. When we started in January we got a game against Saint Martin, a very decent outfit, to get the guys a bit of match practice.

“From that, we went on Carnival break and we’ve now brought them back in every week for two days. Some of the clubs didn’t let their players off because it’s not an international window.

“We don’t have all the players that we want here but all the players we have we are going to put our best foot forward for our country,” he said.

The last time both nations met was at Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain, in 2017. There, the visitors defeated the hosts 2-1.

Eve is hell-bent on returning the favour when TT play their opener at the Montego Bay Sports Complex in Catherine Hall and then at the National Stadium in Kingston.

“We want to go over there (Jamaica) and try to overturn that (previous result). I think the Jamaican team are on a different high than us right now. They’ve been getting sponsorship, getting international players from all over while we’re building from the ground up.

“So we’re in two different places. But we’re going to go out there and give ourselves the best chance. We don’t have a league going on, they have a league going on so it’s kind of stacked in their favour but we’re definitely going to put our best foot forward.”

After the friendlies, the team returns to TT on March 15. The Nations Cup squad will then be selected from the local bunch alongside TT’s internationally-based players.