Trinidad & Tobago Football History

CONTINENTAL QUALIFICATION

Trinidad & Tobago: for the first time ever qualified for a FIFA world competition. Left to right: 10 Antonio Sherwood, 13 Dale Boucher, 6 Richard Theodore, 8 Glen Benjamin, 3 Kirk Trotman, 16 Anthony Eve, 2 Shawn Boney, 5 Dean Pacheco, 11 Jerren Nixon, 1 Michael McComie, 7 Dwight Yorke

For the first time in the history of the World Youth Championships, the qualifying competitions to decide who would be the 16 teams to reach the finals were all carried out according to the same formula in each of the six Confederations.

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The CONCACAF eliminations (with Mexico taking part again) were held in Guatemala. The Mexicans gave some fine performances and qualified without losing a point. As a surprise in this group, Trinidad and Tobago qualified at the expense of the USA and so rehabilitated themselves to some extent for having lost unluckily to the same opponents in the 1990 World Cup qualifying round. But Costa Rica, who had been so convincing in qualifying for the 1989 WYC, failed to live up to expectation and were already eliminated during the group games.

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CONCACAF — 2 participants to qualify (12 entries)

Group 2

30.4.90 Canada v. Trinidad & Tobago 0:0
2.5.90 El Salvador v. Trinidad & Tobago 1:3
4.5.90 El Salvador v. Canada 0:1

1. Trinidad & Tobago 2  1 1 0 3:1 3
2. Canada            2  1 1 0 1:0 3
3. El Salvador       2  0 0 2 1:4 0

Final Round

5.5.90 Guatemala v. USA 1:4
6.5.90 Mexico v. Trinidad & Tobago 2:1
8.5.90 USA v. Trinidad & Tobago 0:1
9.5.90 Guatemala v. Mexico 0:3
11.5.90 Guatemala v. Trinidad & Tobago 1:2
11.5.90 USA v. Mexico 1:3

1. Mexico            3  3 0 0 8:2 6
2. Trinidad & Tobago 3  2 0 1 4:3 4
3. USA               3  1 0 2 5:5 2
4. Guatemala         3  0 0 3 2:9 0

Mexico and Trinidad & Tobago qualified for Portugal '91

THE DRAW
15 MARCH 1991 — ESTORIL, LISBON

The draw for the four groups in the final competition marked the prelude to the final preparations for the World Youth Championship. Staged as part of a television show in the Estoril Casino near Lisbon, the ceremony was also attended by the legendary Portuguese footballer, Eusebio, who led his team unexpectedly to third place in the World Cup final competition in England in 1966.

GROUP C — BRAGA, GUIMARAES
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO, AUSTRALIA, EGYPT, USSR

Trinidad and Tobago v. Australia 0:2 (0:0)
05 15.6.91 19.30 Braga attendance 1,720

Trinidad & Tobago: 1 McComie; 2 Boney; 4 Davidson, 13 Boucher, 3 Trotman; 9 Emmanuel, 10 Sherwood, 5 Pacheco; 16 Eve, 7 Yorke, 11 Nixon

Australia: 1 Bosnich; 5 Okon-Engstler; 3 Stojcevski, 4 Babic, 12 Muscat; 11 Corica, 6 Poric, 8 Kindtner, 14 Maloney; 16 Silic, 9 Seal

a) 52' Okon-Engstler 0:1, 76' Seal 0:2
b) Tejada Noriega (Peru) - Bujsaim (United Arab Emirates), Wei Jihong (PR China)
c) Trin./Tob.: 60' out Emmanuel, in 8 Benjamin
76' out Pacheco, in 14 Henry
Australia: 63' out Corica, in Bingley
67' out Poric, in 13 Popovic
d) Trin./Tob.: 30' Boney, 80' Davidson
e) —

Trinidad and Tobago v. Egypt 0:6 (0:3)
13 18.6.91 19.30 Braga attendance: 10,000

Trinidad and Tobago: 1 McComie; 13 Boucher; 3 Trotman, 2 Boney, 6 Theodore; 10 Sherwood, 7 Yorke, 5 Pacheco, 11 Nixon; 16 Eve, 8 Benjamin

Egypt: 1 El Sayed Ibrahim; 3 Nabil; 5 Khemone Hussein, 4 Ayoub; 7 Sherif A. Khashaba, 6 Sheshini, 8 Gaballa, 2 Abdel Hamid; 13 Elmasry, 11 Sadek, 15 Abdel Halil Ismail

a) 8' Khemone Hussein 0:1, 24' Sadek 0:2, 36' Abdel Halil Ismail 0:3, 60' Sakr 0:4, 79' Sheshini 0:5, 82' Mohamed Abdel Aziz 0:6
b) Wei Jihong (PR China) - Hounake-Kouassi (Togo), Monteiro Corvado (Portugal)
c) Trin./Tob.: 46' out Boney, in 14 Henry
64' out Pacheco, in 9 Emmanuel
Egypt: 60' out Abdel Halil Ismail, in 17 Sakr
74' out Sadek, in 18 Mohamed Abdel Aziz
d) Trin./Tob.: 80' Theodore
Egypt: 31' Gaballa
e) —

Trinidad and Tobago v. USSR 0:4 (0:4)
21 20.6.91 19.30 Guimaraes attendance: 8,800

Trinidad and Tobago: 18 Ince; 3 Trotman,13 Boucher, 6 Theodore, 15 James; 10 Sherwood, 14 Henry, 9 Emmanuel, 12 Millington; 16 Eve, 7 Yorke

USSR: 1 Pomazoun; 6 Buchmanov; 2 Krbachian, 5 Minko, 4 Mamtchour, 18 Pokhlebaev, 7 Mikhailenko, 9 Karsakov, 11 Charan; 10 Konovalov, 8 Cherbakov

a) 9' Pokhlebaev 0:1, 15' Konovalov 0:2, 22' Mikhailenko 0:3, 35' Cherbakov 0:4
b) Sarr (Mauritania) - Wei Jihong (PR China), Monteiro Corado (Portugal)
c) Trin./Tob.: 57' out Sherwood, in 8 Benjamin
73' out Millington, in 11 Nixon
USSR : 46' out Konovalov, in 17 Babalarian
67' out Mikhailenko, in 13 Klimovitch
d) Trin./Tob.: 52' James, 55' Boucher
e) Trin./Tob.: 83' Boucher

GROUP C
Braga/Guimaraes
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO, AUSTRALIA, EGYPT, USSR

15.6 .91 Trinidad & Tobago v. Australia 0:2 (0:0)
16.6 .91 Egypt             v. USSR      0:1 (0:1)
18.6 .91 Trinidad & Tobago v. Egypt     0:6 (0:3)
         Australia         v. USSR      1:0 (1:0)
20.6 .91 Australia         v. Egypt     1:0 (1:0)
         Trinidad & Tobago v. USSR      0:4 (0:4)

1. Australia         3  3 0 0 4:0  6
2. USSR              3  2 0 1 5:1  4
3. Egypt             3  1 0 2 6:2  2
4. Trinidad & Tobago 3  0 0 3 0:12 0

Trinidad & Tobago had a costly probationary period. Ince (no. 18) stretches out in vain - in the match versus the Soviet Union, the ball carries on flying into the net.

This group, based in the historic cities of Braga and Guimaraes in Northern Portugal, contained two confederation champions, namely USSR (UEFA), Egypt (CAF), as well as Australia who had qualified from Oceania following a hard playoff series against Israel and Trinidad and Tobago making their first ever appearance in the finals as a representative of CONCACAF.

The first game gave an indication of things to come when the USSR scored an early goal and prevailed against a fine Egyptian team. In fact Egypt had eight players who arrived on the day of the game after six days in Lisbon completing final school examinations. Hardly the ideal preparation for a World Youth Championship!

The 1-0 result in the opening match was also reflected in resultant games involving the three strong teams in this group, USSR, Egypt and Australia. The surprising "Socceroos" won all their matches, scoring four goals and conceding none due to a fine defence well organised by goalkeeper Bosnich and sweeper Okon-Engstler. Trinidad and Tobago, as expected, had a tough baptism into the world of international football failing to score a goal whilst conceding twelve (12).

The situation leading into the final group games was an interesting one since the Australian team, despite winning their first two matches, could still be eliminated with a defeat against Egypt coupled with the expected USSR win over Trinidad and Tobago. A superb goal, however, as was
the case against the USSR, and another fine defensive effort gave Australia the win and a place in the quarter finals with the injury-hit USSR team. The USSR qualified mainly as a result of the early win over Egypt but the champions of Africa can gain some consolation from the fact that they were eliminated despite scoring the most number of goals in the group and also their fair share of misfortune in the tournament. Trinidad and Tobago, despite being the weakest team in the group, are to be congratulated in that, in spit of being outclassed in all three group matches, they continued to practise the spirit of fair play, an encouraging feature of all the matches played in this group.

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TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
TEAM ANALYSIS

Team Coach: Bertille St. Clair
Team Captain: Dwight Yorke
Status of Players: 10 First Division players (Yorke, Emmanuel, Theodore, Benjamin, Boucher, Davidson, Boney, Ince, Eve, Pacheco)
Preselection of the team: in 1988 (as the former U-16 team)
Number of players used: 60
Average age of players (years/months): 19/2
Players who have taken part in former FIFA Youth Competitions: First qualification of Trinidad and Tobago for a FIFA youth competition

Players' Appearances

No. Name            Date of Birth  Club              Match 1 Match 2 Match 3 Total

 1 McCOMIE Michael       22.04.72  St. Augustine     90      90      R       180
 2 BONEY Shawn           28.08.71  Alcons            90      45      R       135
 3 TROTMAN Kirk          24.02.72  Servol            90      90      90      270
 4 DAVIDSON Nigel        06.10.71  St. Clair C.S.    90      R       R        90
 5 PACHECO Dean          05.08.72  ECM               76      64      R       140
 6 THEODORE Richard      22.10.71  Ball Youths       R       90      90      180
 7 YORKE Dwight          03.11.71  Aston Villa       90      90      90      270
 8 BENJAMIN Glen         04.04.72  Ball Youths       30      90      33      153
 9 EMMANUEL Kervin       11.07.73  Ball Youths       60      26      90      176
10 SHERWOOD Antonio      01.08.71  Point Fortin C.C. 90      90      57      237
11 NIXON Jerren          25.06.73  Airport Authority 90      90      17      197
12 MILLINGTON Granville  25.10.72  Ball Youths       R       R       73       73
13 BOUCHER Dale          24.12.71  St. Clair C.S.    90      90      83(exp) 263
14 HENRY Roger           16.12.71  St. Augustine     14      45      90      149
15 JAMES Hayden          23.03.72  St. Clair C.S.    R       R       90       90
16 EVE Anthony           23.02.72  ECM               90      90      90      270
17 MOZE Gavin            25.03.72  St. Mary's        R       R       R         0
18 INCE Clayton          13.07.72  Airport Authority R       R       90       90

From left to right; back row: 1 Michael McComie, 6 Richard Theodore, 3 Kirk Trotman, 16 Anthony Eve, 2 Shawn Boney; front row: 13 Dale Boucher, 10 Antonio Sherwood, 8 Glen Benjamin, 11 Jerren Nixon, 5 Dean Pacheco, 7 Dwight Yorke

The first team from the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) to play in a World Youth Championship, the Trinidad & Tobago team conducted an intensive preparation programme prior to their arrival in Portugal. The fact, however, that they were in a group that also contained the champions of Europe, USSR and Africa, Egypt as well as a strong Australian team made this a tough introduction into the world of youth football.

The basic formation for the opening match against Australia was 4-3-3 but this was later modified to 4-4-2 when faced with other teams in the group that used at least four midfield players. All the players with the exception of the goalkeepers, Michael McComie and Garvin Moze, were used in the matches, many in a variety of positions with resultant problems regarding tactical organisation, especially in the sweeper position in which Boucher and Boney alternated responsibilities sometimes in the same match.

Trinidad & Tobago naturally lacked international experience. Their players tried to make up for this deficit with total dedication, just like Jerren Nixon in the match against Egypt.

Technically the players were not as skilful as players in other teams, with the exception of Dwight Yorke. The ability to make and receive passes and execute technical skills at a high tempo often caused difficulties for the young Trinidad & Tobago players. Defensive qualities with regard to the marking and covering of players in both midfield and defensive thirds of the field were often exposed, especially in the match against Egypt. As a result of this fact that the team had to defend for long periods, attacks were too often based on long clearances out of defence that made great demands on the fitness of forward and midfield players. Dwight Yorke, the outstanding player in the team was also the catalyst in constructing attacks, when he played in midfield, but when his effectiveness was reduced, especially in the game against Egypt, the attacking potential of the team was also significantly affected. Antonio Sherwood also showed some technical qualities in midfield and Glen Benjamin showed some effective attacking qualities in the match against USSR, but the player with the greatest workload was probably goalkeeper Michael McComie, who had an outstanding game against Australia in the opening match.

The Trinidad & Tobago team is however to be commended for its disciplined character and team spirit, and, apart from the unfortunate dismissal of Dale Boucher minutes before the end of their final match, played all their games according to the principles of fair play. It was an excellent experience for this island nation against three top quality teams. The challenge now is to use this valuable experience to ensure that teams return for future competitions at this and other levels of the game.

Team Preparation in Brief

Start of team selection:
- The U-16 Team of 1988 was the basis of the present U-20 squad
- Furthermore 50 players were invited to a 2-day camp in September 1989
- in November '89 the squad was reduced to 25

Preparation for qualifying competition
Feb. '90: with 32 players
- 2 training sessions a week (Wed/Sun)
- 2 camps of 4 days each
- tour to Venezuela
- 3 matches vs pro-teams within 7 days

Criteria to build up the team
- technical skill
- physical fitness
- aggressiveness, courage, mental strength

Emphasis in training during long- and medium-term preparation
- technical work
- physical work (circuit trainings)
- training sessions were held twice a week from December '89 to March '90

Final selection
Pre-selection: September '90. 36 players were invited for trials. Final selection: May '91

Training camps
- 1 week in Argentina/Uruguay in February 1991
- 1 week in England in April '91
- 3 weeks in Portugal in April '91

Emphasis in training of the final preparation
- technical work

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Actual time played

No. Match   Time played Ball possession
 5  TTO-AUS 47'10"      20'40":26'30"
13  TTO-EGY 53'31"      26'30":27'20"
21  TTO-URS 59'10"      23'30":35'40"