Soca Warriors 2.0: The Silver Lining

After the 4-0 thrashing by Costa Rica on the weekend, the Soca Warriors have more than a few reasons to look forward positively to the next campaign.

Marvin Phillips has grown to become one of the best shot stoppers in the country and has the potential to become one of the best in the world. Even though he is relatively young for a starting keeper on a senior national team, Phillips displayed the kind of tactical awareness and response that we would expect from one maybe ten years his senior. Apart from a couple moments of hesitation, his display was remarkable. Ince has a very able successor in Marvin.

Jake Thompson shone at the Under 20 World Cup as one of the standout performers in a very talented Trinidad and Tobago team. He was given his first senior cap on Saturday and even though, most times he looked clearly out of his depth, he has shown glimmers of the player that he can develop into. His marauding runs down the right side of the defence helped make room for a still inadequate Carlos Edwards (captain for the night).

Radanfah Abu Bakr had one of his worst games in a Soca Warriors shirt on Saturday, scoring an own goal and generally being left wanting for most of the game. Going on his past displays I will give him a ‘lil bligh’. Another young player with a bright future ahead of him, once he doesn’t follow the ‘Dog’ route.

Keon Daniel put in an energetic display after being overlooked for the past couple of games. His final passes more times than not left a lot to be desired, but generally he was always full of life and never short of ideas. Latapy needs to figure out how to get him to tap into his deep reservoir of talent, because this player certainly has the ability.

Kerry Baptiste finally got a start under this new administration. He is one of the best midfielders in this twin island republic at this point in time, leading scorer in the T&T Pro League and still a relatively young player; the sky is the limit if he can keep his focus. Hopefully the ‘Dwarika virus’ stopped with Arnold.

As for the other players that I didn’t mention, Kenwyne (nuff said), Carlos Edwards (W.A.F.T.), Kern Cupid (pretty decent in attack but still has to work on his defence) and others, some should never be starting on a national team and others should be given more playing to build their confidence. All in all the Soca Warriors now have a pretty decent core of players, a good mix of experience and youthful exuberance. Let’s just see how they are managed and how their progression goes as time goes by.