Trinidad Professional team aiming to easily dispose of local opponents
THE Neal and Massy Caledonia AIA football club of Trinidad and Tobago issued a stern warning to the participating teams in this year’s Kashif and Shanghai tournament through their head coach Jamal Shabazz stating that his side is coming to these shores with only winning the competition on their minds.
Caledonia, a professional team from the Twin Island Republic, is one of the Island’s premier clubs that competes in the Trinidad and Tobago Professional League and will play New Amsterdam United on Christmas Day (December 25) at the Blairmont Community Centre ground in Berbice.
“We are excited about coming to Guyana and play, especially the players, because of what they have seen and heard about this tournament and playing in Guyana,” Shabazz said while addressing the local media at the Princess Hotel and Casino yesterday.
The Trinidadian, who is well-known in Guyana for guiding the Golden Jaguars through their historic run in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers, said that the team coming to Guyana represents that of Trinidad and Tobago, since it will feature players from other clubs within the T&T Pro-League.
Shabazz said that his side will feature Devon Jorsling who also plays in the USA’s USL Pro-League with the Orlando City Soccer Club and a member of the TT Defence Force 2010/2011 TT Pro-League Champions.
Jorsling is considered Trinidad’s top striker and Shabazz said that the 28-year-old forward is among the few leading players from the Island who would be making up the Caledonia AIA team.
“They’re five players from the T&T Under-23 squad in the line-up along with a number of players from around the League because these guys really want to come and play in Guyana,” said the Trinidadian.
He also said that Guyanese national players Walter Moore, Tryon Bobb and Colin Nelson are also in the line-up having been fixed members of the Caledonia club.
“Listen, these are coming here to play what they think is the biggest football tournament in the entire Caribbean,” Shabazz said, adding that “they are coming here to face tough competition because I tell them it’s not going to be easy.
“They ask me ‘coach, how can they be so good and they are not professionals?’ I said to them, it’s the same thing the Trinidad National team thought about the Golden Jaguars.”
“I tell them, playing in this tournament means a lot for the players in Guyana so they take it very seriously because to them it’s like playing in the world cup, the support is huge. They have even seen a few games and pictures about the tournament so, I tell them come here and expect a tough time,” Shabazz noted.
“I hope we play Pele, I want to play Pele, because my players know about a pint-size guy named ‘Jackie Chan’ (Gregory Richardson) and they want to play against Pele.
“You see, Caledonia is like a Tiger Bay, that’s where we come from in Trinidad, so these players know what they have to do because like I said, we not coming here to lose,” the Caledonia head coach added.
Caledonia players are looking to follow in the footsteps of Joe Public United who participated in the 2007/08 tournament featuring also a number of Guyanese players including Carey Harris and Abassi McPherson.
Meanwhile, Shabazz, a popular figure in Caribbean Football, said that over the years, he has been impressed with the Kashif and Shanghai football tournament, stating that it’s a tournament which is used not only by himself, but many other clubs in Trinidad to spot new talents.
Kashif Mohammed recalled several years ago how Walter Moore was spotted by Shabazz after watching him play in Linden and said that since then, Moore has now moved on to land a contract playing in the USA.
However, Mohammed made it clear to Shabazz that coming to Guyana to win their tournament wouldn’t be an easy task since the local clubs are just as eager to walk away with the $4M first prize.
Mohammed said that he hopes the local clubs step up to the plate to keep the cash and other prizes at home in Guyana and also urged the fans to come out and support the local teams.