The Trinidad Guardian Beenhakker says T&T football on the move Published: Tuesday, July 23, 2013 Football Association director Leo Beenhakker returned to Port-of-Spain on Sunday with the national contingent and is expected to hold meetings with local football personnel this week as he prepares to assist with the development of the local game. The Dutch mastermind who guided T&T to the 2006 World Cup in Germany, spent the past few weeks with T&T head coach Stephen Hart and the squad in the United States during the Concacaf Gold Cup. Beenhakker said he was partly satisfied with the progress made but there was room for development and improvement. “I have to say it was difficult at the start but you can see in general they were growing in the tournament but they were doing better and better,” Beenhakker said. Beenhakker, a past technical director with Dutch giants AFC Ajax, will continue to hold meetings with TTFA president Raymond Tim Kee, general secretary Sheldon Phillips as well as other technical personnel including technical director Anton Corneal among others. “The main thing is what we, the responsible people of the football of T&T, the management and coaches, are doing with them (players). Football is on the move. If you compare it with the last ten years you can see every year is much quicker with less time. If you want to play a certain role in international football then you have to develop the younger players in that way. The former Real Madrid and Holland boss said the promising and improved showing of the National Team at the Gold Cup was essential in the way forward. “It’s very important because that the whole nation gets back the confidence and the face of the national team . They deserve it because they are representing your beautiful country. We have to look for international success. The only way to get that to go back to the training pitch almost everyday, prepare yourself, not only in technical way but also in mental and physical preparation and I assure you the talent is there but we have to work a lot more especially with the younger generation and the ultimate goal again is to be present in the World Cup 2018.”
Posted on: Tue, 23 Jul 2013 12:27:37 +0000