Under-20 Soca Warrior Michael Chaves has surgery for fractured leg

Trinidad and Tobago under-20 men's footballer and Fatima College student Michael Chaves will be sidelined for approximately three-six months after suffering a fractured leg during a TT Premier Football League (TTPFL) match.

The tier-two match was played at the Hasely Crawford Stadium training field, Mucurapo on March 17.

Playing for QPCC against the visiting MIC Matura United, the 17-year-old Chaves suffered the gruesome injury near the end of the first half, when he was on the receiving end of a rough tackle from Kwame Hazel as he made a run down the right wing. Players from both teams raised the alarm immediately to referee Rashby McPhie, before Chaves was stretchered off and eventually taken to St Clair Medical Centre.

Just before 1 am on March 18, the talented striker had successful surgery after being treated by Dr Sergiy Adonin.

QPCC coach Wayne Sheppard said Chaves suffered a fracture of the left fibula, and he said the outcome could have been worse if the tibia had been damage.

Sheppard said Chaves, described as "one of the best talents" in the local game at present, is in good spirits and he believes he has the mindset needed to bounce back from the injury.

"He's a strong youth. He has a great support system around him," Sheppard told Newsday.

After representing TT's under-17 men's football team at the Concacaf under-17 championships last year, Chaves showed his worth to local football fans on home soil last month in the Concacaf under-20 men's championship qualifiers at the Hasely Crawford Stadium venue.

In TT's first qualifying match against St Vincent and the Grenadines on February 23, Chaves came off the bench and scored a dramatic stoppage-time winner as the hosts grabbed a 3-2 comeback victory. In TT's next game, against Dominica, two days later, Chaves scored the opening goal in TT's resounding 5-0 win.

The young Soca Warriors did not advance to the Concacaf under-20 championships, though, as they fell to a 3-0 loss against Canada in their last group game when faced with a must-win situation.

A Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) premier division and national intercol winner with Fatima, Chaves was given his first senior cap by TT head coach Angus Eve on March 1, when he came on as a second-half substitute for the Soca Warriors against Jamaica in a friendly fixture in Mucurapo.

Sheppard praised his players for the determination and will they showed to return to the field after Chaves' injury. And while he did not put the blame on Hazel, Sheppard said the players were not well protected by McPhie during the contest. Just before Hazel's tackle on Chaves, Sheppard said he and his technical staff were outraged by the nature of tackles by the opposition.

The QPCC coach was eventually red-carded after showing his displeasure with McPhie's handling of the match.

"Every single player who stepped on the field after that injury has my respect. It is not Christmas time in the camp right now for sure, but I must tip my hat...to those boys who went back out there," Sheppard said. "The referee did not have a command of the game at all."

QPCC lost the encounter 2-1, but Chaves' recovery is the most important thing for the Parkites at the moment.

Chaves was set to travel with the City FC team this week for the 2024 Jefferson Cup in the US. Sheppard said Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) is one of the many colleges eager to add the young TT forward to their programme.