EVE...We still have to look and see who will come through those games unscathed.
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Having selected what he believes is the best crop of players to secure qualification to the 2026 Fifa World Cup, Trinidad and Tobago’s Head coach Angus Eve is no hoping everything will go accordingly, both where performances and player fitness is concerned.
In fact, Eve, who named his provisional 39-player squad last Friday, would love nothing but to have his final Soca Warriors squad –when narrowed down –hit the ground running with positive results to start their Concacaf World Cup qualifying campaign against Grenada and then Bahamas on June 5 and 8 respectively. They will host Grenada at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, before visiting Bahamas a few days later.
"These 39 players are the ones we think can give us the best chance to start off on a positive head and try to win these two matches and start off with six points in the qualifiers, one game at a time,” Eve said in a recent interview with the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) media.
The tactician, who is aiming to host a camp between June 1 and June 3, pointed out that it was a challenge to gather the team earlier due to players’ club obligations. It is for this reason that he is hoping players will come into camp fit and ready to go, given that they will only assemble a few days before kick off.
“Players' safety (is a concern) and all these kinds of things. It is terrible that the window starts on (June) 3rd and we have to play on the 5th, so players have to travel on the 3rd, most of the players. On the 1st and 2nd we still have players playing matches outside. We have the locally-based players playing in a final this coming week, a couple days before the game. We still have to look and see who will come through those games unscathed,” Eve shared.
That said, Eve explained the reason behind gifting players such as Tyrese Spicer, Dantaye Gilbert and Steffen Yeates, their first senior team invitation. While Spicer, 23, and Gilbert, 19, has represented the twin island republic at the youth level, Yeates, 24, is breaking into his first national team.
“Young Spicer has been doing tremendously well for Toronto FC. We did try to get him and [Wayne] Fredericks for the two Jamaica friendlies, but he [Spicer] had an injury at that point in time and also Fredericks had an injury in that time, so we never got them. It is a delight for us to actually have the opportunity to call him [Spicer] up,” Eve noted.
“We have also been behind Steffen Yeates since last October. We have really been having good conversations with him, but there were some administrative issues. We think we are very close to sorting out his documents, so we wanted to put him in the training squad, so just in case that his documents come through, he will already be in the squad,” he added.
Like Spicer and Yeates, Eve said Netherlands-based Gilbert was always a part of his plans, but he wanted to bide his time with the young midfielder.
“We have been following Dantaye; the tricky thing about these things is that when a young player goes to Europe you want (to allow) him to settle in at his club first before you drag him out of his club. If he stays over there for three, four months and get that quality training in that high-intensity environment then he is going to be better for us when he comes back to the national team,” he ended.
T&T Provisional squad:
Goalkeepers: Denzil Smith (Club Sando), Aaron Enill (Prison FC), Christopher Biggette (Defence Force), Adrian Foncette (Miscellaneous Police FC).
Defenders: Andre Raymond (unattached), Jesse Williams (Chattanooga FC—USA), Sheldon Bateau (SK Beveren—Belgium), Leland Archer (Charleston Battery—USA), Triston Hodge (Hartford Athletic—USA), Ross Russell (Terminix La Horquetta Rangers), Aubrey David (CS Cartagines—Costa Rica), Alvin Jones, Robert Primus (both Miscellaneous Police FC), Isaiah Garcia, Justin Garcia (both Defence Force), Josiah Trimmingham (Montego Bay Utd—Jamaica), Shannon Gomez (San Antonio FC—USA).
Midfielders: Duane Muckette, Michel Poon-Angeron (both AC Port of Spain), Kevon Goddard (Defence Force), Andre Rampersad (HFX Wanderers—Canada), Kristian Lee Him (Eskilstuna), Dantaye Gilbert (Jong PSV—Netherlands), Steffen Yeates (Pacific FC—Canada), Molik Khan (Minnesota Utd II—USA), Daniel Phillips (St Johnstone FC—Scotland), Ajani Fortune (Atlanta United—USA)Matthew Woo Ling (Defence Force), Noah Powder (Northern Colorado Hailstorm—USA).
Attackers: Kaile Auvray, Nathaniel James (both Mount Pleasant FC—Jamaica), Real Gill (Northern Colorado Hailstorm—USA), Reon Moore (Pacific FC—Canada), Malcolm Shaw (Cavalry FC), Levi Garcia (AEK Athens—Greece), Tyrese Spicer (Toronto FC—Canada), Ezekiel Kesar (Point Fortin Civic), Kevon Woodley (Morvant Caledonia Utd), Ryan Telfer (HFX Wanderers—Canada).
Fiorentina 2-1 Milan: Gudmundsson seals win after De Gea penalty heroics
David de Gea saved two penalties for Fiorentina, setting the stage for Albert Gudmundsson to score the winner in a 2-1 victory over Milan.
In a pulsating encounter that saw three missed penalties and two red cards, Fiorentina prevailed to halt Paulo Fonseca's Serie A winning run.
The hosts had the first spot-kick of the game, with Moise Kean's tame effort being kept out by Mike Maignan before the forward had a goal disallowed for offside.
Former Milan midfielder Yacine Adli did break the deadlock soon after, ricocheting a low shot in off the far post from the edge of the box, and De Gea kept them ahead at the break, superbly denying Theo Hernandez from the spot.
Kean had a second goal chalked off for offside in the second half and Milan wasted another golden opportunity from 12 yards, as De Gea got down well to keep out Tammy Abraham this time.
On the hour mark, an in-form Christian Pulisic finally pulled the visitors level with a perfect volley, but the drama was far from over as Gudmundsson drilled his low shot past Maignan to put Fiorentina back in front in the 73rd minute.
Emotions ran high in the final moments as Fiorentina coach Raffaele Palladino was sent off, while Hernandez also received his marching orders for arguing with the referee after the final whistle had gone.
Data Debrief: De Gea's penalty redemption
For all the plaudits De Gea received while at Manchester United, one blip on his record was his struggles against penalties.
However, with his impressive showing against Milan, he became the first goalkeeper to make two penalty saves in a single Serie A match since Federico Marchetti in May 2016.
Since his debut in the top five European leagues (2009-10), the Spaniard has saved 10 of his 52 penalties in the league, including each of the last three, having also saved one against Fulham in May 2023.
Rangers 2-0 St. Johnstone: Cerny double provides Ibrox redemption
Rangers got back on track in the Scottish Premiership as Vaclav Cerny scored both goals in a 2-0 victory over St. Johnstone.
Philippe Clement's side were thrashed 4-1 by Lyon in Thursday's Europa League clash at Ibrox Stadium, where they made amends with a routine domestic victory on Sunday.
Cerny broke the deadlock 11 minutes before the interval, cutting inside and curling a sumptuous effort into the bottom-left corner of Ross Sinclair's goal.
Czech Republic winger Cerny added Rangers' second, and doubled his account, just before the hour after combining with returning midfielder Ianis Hagi before producing a right-footed finish into the far corner.
Hagi – who had not played a first-team game for over a year due to a contract dispute – was sent off with nine minutes left though, following a VAR review for a high challenge on Benjamin Kimpioka's standing ankle.
Rangers still recorded a comfortable triumph to move back within five points of the league-leading Celtic, who are clear of Aberdeen on goal difference, heading into the October international break.
Data Debrief: Defensive recovery after Lyon pain
Rangers were well off the pace in the Lyon hammering in which they shipped four goals, though the hosts rediscovered their defensive solidity here.
Clement's men have now won three matches in a row without conceding in the competition for the first time since doing so across January and February last campaign.
It came as no surprise, however, given St. Johnstone have lost each of their last seven away league games against Rangers without scoring a single goal in the process.
Kompany not concerned despite Bayern's defensive issues in Frankfurt
Vincent Kompany saw no reason for concern despite Bayern Munich conceding a late equaliser in Sunday's 3-3 draw away to Eintracht Frankfurt.
Bayern have now failed to win any of their last three matches in all competitions after last week's top-flight draw at home to Bayer Leverkusen and their midweek Champions League loss at Aston Villa.
Kim Min-Jae sent the visitors ahead early on, only for in-form Omar Marmoush to level before his strike partner Hugo Ekitike edged the home side into the lead.
Goals from Dayot Upamecano and Michael Olise turned the game around, only for Marmoush to provide a last-gasp equaliser – yet Kompany did not appear too worried at the full-time whistle.
"This was a tough game against a team that was second in the Bundesliga [before the match]," Kompany told a press conference after the points were shared in Frankfurt.
"When I look how the team worked and ran for each other it is a positive performance.
"We are all judged by results but my job is to see how we perform against some of the top teams in Germany and continue to improve. If we continue like this we will have a lot of wins."
All three Eintracht goals came from quick counter-attacks with the Bayern defence caught off guard.
"The way we approached the game I cannot say I am not proud of the team," Kompany added.
"I know you are all going to talk about the three goals that we conceded. We always have to improve things step by step. There are things that are not perfect but I have to focus on the things we did well."
The Bavarians now have 14 points and sit top of the table on goal difference ahead of RB Leipzig, who were 1-0 winners at Heidenheim earlier on Sunday.
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