ANGUS EVE, Trinidad and Tobago men’s senior national football team head coach thinks that despite a satisfying end to 2023, there is still much work to be done as the 2024 CONMEBOL Copa America qualifying playoff with Canada approaches in March, and FIFA 2026 Men’s World Cup qualifying gets going later in the year.
The Copa América qualifying playoffs will be contested by four CONCACAF teams to earn the final two places in the tournament featuring the top teams in South America and CONCACAF. Both playoff matches will be held on March 23, 2024, at the Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. The lowest ranked of the four teams, T&T (#96), face #48-ranked Canada, while Honduras will play Costa Rica in the other match.
In an end-of-year interview with TTFA Media, Eve expressed satisfaction that the Soca Warriors can again be mentioned in the same breath as the top CONCACAF teams.
“We said we want to go back to where we are competing against these teams. We are now in the last eight of CONCACAF, fighting in the last four for a place in the Copa America. Who would have thought in a couple of months we would have been here?”
In two-and-a-half years, the Soca Warriors have gone from the low of being knocked out in the first round of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying, following drawing a goalless with minnows Bahamas in early 2021, to defeating #11-ranked USA 2-1 in a 2023 CONCACAF Nations League A quarter-final second leg.
The win against the Americans was redemption for 7-0, 6-0 and 3-0 defeats against the same opponents in their three previous encounters.
Having seemingly turned things around, Eve said the work continues.
“There is a lot more to be done,” he said. “Player development; exposure for players is so important and playing at the higher levels consistently. Then, we will get more players playing outside of Trinidad and Tobago like we used to.”
A former head coach of the North East Stars and Club Sando teams, Eve also wanted local clubs and coaches to understand they had a key role in building both their footballers and the national team.
“The clubs have to understand that sometimes you need to take the players for four days,” he said. “We have to work in tandem with each other to get the players where we want them to be.”
Going forward, Eve begged for a more professional approach, improved staffing, proper processes put in place and regular exposure for his charges.
“The local players need to be playing more,” he declared. “Even if we get an international game every two months.”
Eve said with exposure, local players like goalkeeper Denzil Smith, Justin Garcia, Nathaniel James, Real Gill and Nathaniel James have all been able to come in and make contributions to the team.
In one of his post-match speeches captured on film by TTFA Media and shown during the interview, Eve commended the players for their effort when selecting mostly a locally-based team and defeating Guatemala 1-0.
“You showed the world today, and you showed your trust in me,” Eve stated. “Because when I pick somebody, ah next person from a club saying why ah didn’t pick he (someone else). That doesn’t bother me.”
He continued: “We will always select the players fairly. It have no favouritism. What we see sometimes, may not be what you see daddy, and then what you see may not be what I see.”
Eve stressed: “This project is not for today. We didn’t bound to take this game. We could have taken the easy way out. But we didn’t take the easy way out, because we need to expose everybody.”
Eve also expressed trust in his technical staff and said it only took the word of goalkeeping coach Clayton Ince, the former T&T national team and UK-based goalkeeper, to give custodian Smith the starting position, following the retirement of the long-serving Martin Phillip and injured Nicklas Frenderup.
“From the time we came in 2021, Denzil was a part of the squad. He was the fourth keeper at that point in time because Adrian Foncette was still in the team,” Eve said. “When he (Ince) said to me he thinks this guy (Smith) is ready, then there was no need for us to try to have a stop-gap by bringing back one of the experienced players”
Similarly, defender Garcia, James, Kaile Auvray and Gill have all benefited from continued exposure.
“The first team I selected in 2021, Justin (Garcia) was a part of that team in that Gold Cup. He has come on leaps and bounds,” added Eve. “Nathaniel and Kaile, we were carrying them in all of the practice matches, friendlies and such.”
Eve confessed that he too has benefited from exposure via coaching courses and also being present at the official draw for both the Gold Cup and Copa America, rubbing shoulders with top coaches in the region.
“It has motivated me even more to do well because of the level of professionalism; the type of people you’re rubbing shoulders with,” Eve said.
“You learn by having conversations,” he explained. “The most that I would have learned is when I have conversations with other coaches at the side, or with the tutors and lecturers.”
Going forward, Eve hopes for greater Government and corporate support to improve the capabilities of the national team set-up.
“America came down with about 35 (staff) members. They had a whole hospital set up,” he noted. “They had a whole technical department set up with all the analytics and things. Our department is one guy, McShine and the other department is one guy, Derek King. And the other department (medical) is one guy, doctor Danai.
With an ironic chuckle, Eve told Interviewer and TTFA media officer Shaun Fuentes: ”We have one guy (for media), Shaun Fuentes. Everything is one guy, when other people have departments for these things.”
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