Staff writer - Nyasha Watson
The World Cup Football is scheduled for the summer of 2014 in Brazil and to speak frankly the Caribbean teams do not look capable of qualifying for the tournament. And by teams I mean Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica. Historically, these are the two power houses of Caribbean football; Trinidad and Tobago qualified for the tournament in 2006 and Jamaica in 1998.
Yes, the tournament is a whole two and a half years away, so the teams have time to strengthen their squads. But I still believe more practice matches against other teams need to be arranged. It is evident from the most recent practice match that they played that a lot of work needs to be put into creating a coherent squad.
I know that it is a problem for most international teams as their players play for different league teams. This is more so a problem in Jamaica where the level of the national league is quite frankly inferior to the league that the overseas players have been exposed to.
I mean Mexico and the United States of America are the two power houses of CONCAF, so the two top spots are automatically assigned to them and the other teams are left to fight for the remaining spots. However, we should aim to change that status quo. It would truly be a momentous achievement if we were able to have two teams from the region in the World Cup Football, 2014 in Brazil.
Trinidad & Tobago's Soca Warriers
However, this dream is a bit far fetched right now. Therefore, it is imperative that more practice matches are organized so that players will get used to playing each other. I know that the administrations are not doing so well financially. This is where the private sector needs to play a major part by sponsoring some of the games.
I will rule Digicel out because they are already doing so much for the region’s football. However, the other entities need to do more. It is not impossible for us to have two teams in the World Cup, but it will definitely mean a lot of hard work and sacrifice. Let us make it happen.
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