Veteran Soca Warriors' goalkeeper Marvin Phillip retires with 'heavy heart'

Longstanding Trinidad and Tobago goalkeeper Marvin Phillip has announced his retirement from international duty with the men's football team, 16 years after making his debut versus Panama at the Estadio Rommel Fernandez Gutierrez in Panama City.

Phillip, 39, took to Instagram early on Thursday to relay the news, saying: "It comes with a heavy heart and sadness that I announce I'm hanging up my gloves with immediate effect from the national stage."

Best known for his shot-stopping ability and his cat-like reflexes between the sticks, Phillip made 92 appearances for the Soca Warriors and also served as team captain on several occasions.

Under current senior team coach Angus Eve, Phillip led the team as skipper in two matches at the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup and also captained the team at the beginning of the 2022/23 Concacaf Nations League campaign. Phillip played the solitary match for TT at the 2023 Gold Cup tournament – a thumping 6-0 loss to the US in July. That was his last match for the Soca Warriors.

TT will lock horns once more with the US in the 2023 Concacaf Nations League A quarter-finals this month, but Eve will not be able to rely on the "role model" figure of Phillip. The TT team finished second behind Panama in their Nations League A group, with Phillip left out of the squad for those matches.

Eve commended Phillip's leadership over the years and thanked him for his influence on TT's current crop of goalkeepers: Christopher Biggette (27), Nicklas Frenderup (30), Denzil Smith (24) and Jabari St Hillaire (23).

"Marvin would have been tremendous in allowing Frenderup to settle in and be a part of the process as he was a foreign-based player," Eve told Newsday.

"Marvin has been there mentoring (Denzil) and working with him day in, day out. He has been a role model to these guys in the way he has carried about himself. He would just let them know what to expect at this level because he has seen it all.

"I can't (over-)emphasise how important he was from a leadership and mentorship standpoint with the group."

Before his senior team debut versus Panama in 2007, Phillip showed promise at both the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) and national youth level. In September 2001, he was TT's starting goalkeeper for the Fifa under-17 World Cup which was played in TT.

Phillip reflected on his memories of wearing the red, white and black.

"I must say this is an extremely difficult moment for me right now," Phillip said in his Instagram post. "As I'm reflecting about my career as a national player from when I represented us as an under-17 player competing in a youth World Cup in 2001, to being on the senior team throughout until 2023, I'm very glad and grateful for everything I've accomplished at the national level."

Eve also spoke to Phillip's longevity.

"To say Phillip's retirement was a surprise or a sudden departure, I probably might say no. Marvin has been a fantastic servant to the country," Eve said. "He and the guys did really well in the youth World Cup (in 2001) and from there he just went on from strength to strength."

But, he added, "In everything we do, there is change and he is getting on in age. We had spoken about him taking up more of a coaching role sometime in the future.

"If he thinks it's the right time for him to hang up his gloves, I want to continue to wish him all the best. He knows if he needs any help or assistance from me, it is always there."

At senior level, Phillip had a healthy tussle for TT's number-one goalkeeping spot with Jan-Michael Williams, whose own senior team career spanned from 2003-2017.

Eve says he welcomes the competition in the goalkeeping department.

"There is a battle for the number-one spot and players have to grab the opportunity," he said. "I remember back in the day (we had goalkeepers like) Clayton Ince, Ross Russell and Shaka Hislop and these guys when I was playing. They were fighting for the number-one spot and they were all fantastic goalkeepers. Marvin had to battle with Jan-Michael (Williams) for most of his career.

"I think we are in a good place. Maybe Marvin is clearing the way for somebody to come and establish themselves as the new number one."

Phillip has spent most of his playing career in TT, with W Connection, Central FC and Point Fortin Civic being some of the teams he has represented. Phillip won the Caribbean Club Championship with Connection in the 2008/09 season and turned out for TT in four Gold Cups.

Earlier this year, Phillip helped AC Port of Spain to a second-place finish in the inaugural TT Premier Football League (TTPFL) season.

He vowed to keep on plying his trade locally.

"I won't be leaving the game just yet, but I'll continue contributing professionally in the local leagues, playing and sharing my knowledge I gained throughout my career.

"I thoroughly enjoyed every second of playing football for my country and being allowed to represent (TT) at the highest level was indeed and truly a great blessing indeed."