PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Head coach Angus Eve believes further technical and human resource investment is required for Trinidad and Tobago football, even in the wake of a satisfying campaign last year.
Trinidad and Tobago head coach Angus Eve.The former Caribbean powerhouses enjoyed a decent CONCACAF Nations League run before ending the year on a high with a stunning win over giants United States, in the second leg of a playoff to reach Copa America.
“There is a lot more to be done. Player development, exposure for players is so important and playing at the higher levels consistently,” said Eve, who has led the national side for close to three years.
“Then we will get more players playing outside of Trinidad and Tobago like we used to.”
He continued: “The clubs have to understand that sometimes you need to take the players for four days. We have to work in tandem with each other to get the players where we want them to be.”
T&T finished second in Group A of League A, one point behind Panama, after losing just once in four outings.
In the quarter-finals against the US, T&T slumped to a 3-0 defeat in the first leg staged in Texas before staging a remarkable comeback in the second leg in Port of Spain, coming from a goal down to win 2-1.
They will now face Canada in March for another chance to reach the Copa America tournament, and Eve said Trinidad and Tobago belonged in the higher echelons of the confederation.
“We said we want to go back to where we are competing against these teams,” he pointed out.
“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?”
Pointing to the technical support required, Eve said T&T were currently operating in the bare minimum.
“America came down with about 35 members. They had a whole hospital set up. They had a whole technical department set up with all the analytics and things,” he said.
“Our department is one guy – McShine. And the other department is one guy – Derek King. And the other department is one guy – doctor Danai.
“Everything is one guy when other people have departments for these things.”
