Latest update April 25th, 2024 12:59 AM
Mar 14, 2010 Sports
Trials for Jamaicans & Brazilian being done, 4 overseas players to be added
By Franklin Wilson
Guyana’s number one Club Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United are strengthening their line-up and chances of moving past the first round of the Caribbean Football Union Champions League Qualifying tournament. This was announced by Club President Odinga Lumumba at a press conference held at the Water Chris Hotel yesterday.
Three of six Jamaicans who will be trying out for selection to the team were present at yesterday’s briefing. One Brazilian who played with Alpha before will also be back according to Lumumba who expressed confidence that his charges will advance beyond the first round this time around. Alpha fell to Haiti’s Tempete FC in the first round last year.
Lumumba, in sharing plans for the tournament stated that what is important for the players in the opening rounds of the competition, which does not have any monetary incentives, is exposure.
“This competition sets the platform for players to get the necessary international exposure so that international scouts can get a look at them to see how good they are. I have said to my players over the years, stop going after the small money in Guyana and make use of the opportunities you get in tournaments of this nature where international scouts are present.”
Lumumba cited the case of Gregory ‘Jackie Chan’ Richardson who was spotted by agents during his explosive play in the CONCACAF Club Championship with Joe Public FC of Trinidad and Tobago.
Initially, Alpha had drawn a bye to the second round but that was subsequently changed and they will now be hosting Walking Boys of Suriname and Bath Estate of Dominica on March 24, 25 and 26 at the GCC ground Bourda.
Lumumba stated that Alpha has to come up with the best possible team in order to succeed, noting that the level of competitiveness in this tournament is above what is experienced locally, so they have to equip themselves accordingly.
“This is the ultimate, this is the step below the World Club Championship; this is the big day. For us to be competitive we have to be strong, much stronger than we are. We are in the process of looking at some foreign and local players to boost us up. We are going to bring in about six Jamaican players to see what they can offer.”
Three of the Jamaicans were present; Troylan Williams a forward with Mountain View FC, Peter Gordon who plays midfield with Super League club Santos and Jermaine Alleyne who is also a midfield player with Tivoli Gardens.
Lumumba noted that another forward, midfielder and goalkeeper will also come from Jamaica to try out in the next couple of days. A Brazilian player who played with Alpha before will also be here shortly.
“We can only use four of these players going forward so we will have to see what they are capable of doing with regards to enhancing Alpha United.”
The top two teams from this group will move forward to the next round. Matches will kick off at 16:00hrs with the possibility of the final day being played under lights.
The cost of hosting the tournament will be about Six Million Dollars with Alpha being responsible for internal transportation meals and accommodation.
Lumumba stated that the CFU will be giving the host club a subvention but he is not quite sure of the amount. “We have appealed to the Government and the Private Sector for assistance to make our hosting a success.”
Commenting on the preparedness of Alpha, Captain Howard Lowe said things have been going well and assured that they will be prepared for the battle while noting that there is still some more work to be done.
“At the moment, the players are really up to it, at the last competition we were knocked out in the first round and we have learnt from that mistake and this time is a serious time.
Everyone is working hard and we are working hard, there is no way we are looking back, we are going forward from here.”
Manager/Assistant Coach Clifton Bobb noted that in the past two months they have been doing a lot of conditioning work with the players and because of the length of time before the actual competition, they have also been doing quite a bit of endurance work.
“In Terms of the technical aspect of it, we had some players who had to go through some shooting drills and they have been doing far better now. Tactically, we have been doing some work with the midfield and defence. All in all, the team is looking well as a unit and by the time we get to the competition, the team will be a strong, fast scoring unit.”
With a number of overseas players in the reckoning for selection, Bobb stated that it will put pressure of the local players to work hard which he believes is a positive for Alpha.
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