Football

Watford struck twice in the space of 15 second-half minutes when Edo Kayembe broke the deadlock in the 51st minute, before Mileta Rajovic doubled the lead from close range.

Albion, who increased their lead over the chasing play-off pack by a point because of the defeats suffered by Norwich, Coventry and Preston, fought back in the closing stages.

Brandon Thomas-Asante struck a fierce drive beyond Daniel Bachmann in the Hornets goal in the 71st minute before right-back Darnell Furlong drew the hosts level in stoppage time with a rasping strike from distance.

It means West Brom have now lost just once in their last 12 matches, a run stretching back to January, and they remain on course to secure a play-off place come May,

Corberan said: “It was important to show to our fans that we wanted more and to show that we want to make something special this year.

“We need to understand, the players, staff, the fans, things aren’t going to work how we’d like them to work. Not always are the games going to be under control or will we play at our best level, but we need to show the fans that we are never going to give up.

“When the fans see that we are trying our best, they are going to support us. When you drop, you can break the togetherness which is necessary during the season, especially in this moment.

“This extra mentality, resilience, maturity, game understanding is going to be key if we’re to keep building something important.”

Watford’s interim manager Tom Cleverley was heartened by his team’s showing, despite the late disappointment of Furlong’s goal denying them two points.

Cleverley has overseen a return of five points from the three matches he has been in charge of, including a win at Birmingham and draws with Leeds and West Brom.

The Hornets could have sewn the game up, with Tom Dele-Bashiru testing goalkeeper Alex Palmer and Emmanuel Dennis hitting the post from a narrow angle.

Instead, they claimed only a point in the Black Country and Cleverley said: “If you strip it back and take the emotion out of it, the last two performances have given me real optimism for the club’s fortunes ahead.

“I feel a little hard done by that we’ve only taken two points from those games but I’ve asked the players for consistency in their performance.

“After a cagey first half, I felt like in the second half we put our stamp on the game. We did that fantastically, we just couldn’t hold on in the end.

“It’s a pleasure to work with these guys on a daily basis. The guys at the back are unfortunate to have conceded two goals today, there were some colossal performances.

“I think 99 times out of 100 when an opposition full-back has the ball 25 yards from goal, you feel fairly safe. Today, unfortunately, it’s gone into the top corner, but these players have given me a lot of belief in the last three games.”

Foden cancelled out Marcus Rashford’s brilliant first-half opener with a fine strike of his own 11 minutes after the break.

And the Stockport-born playmaker added another finish in the 80th minute before Erling Haaland wrapped up a Manchester derby victory in stoppage time.

Walker, asked about Foden’s stunning equaliser, told Sky Sports: “You know when he comes in on his left foot…we call him the sniper, because he likes to shoot.

“He likes a shot, so when he comes in on that left foot, you know he has the quality and the calmness and composure to pick his spot and I thought he took his goal fantastically well.”

Foden then switched over to the left side, from where he scored his second and earned City a big victory in their Premier League title challenge.

Walker added: “The second, probably coming off the left-hand side, you don’t really see Phil in that position but for him to find the corner as he has done, I think that just shows his flexibility.

“He’s even been trusted down the middle as well this year, which I think is a big part of the responsibility he has taken on. We lean on him and we need important players like him.

“He loves a shot, he practices, he puts in the work and he’s always doing extra shooting. His goals are coming, he’s reaping the rewards and he needs to keep these standards up.

“I think this season he’s been nothing short of first class. That’s the standard he sets for himself, that’s the standard we set for him, the manager (Pep Guardiola) and that’s the standard he has to keep up now.”

Foden, who now has 18 goals in all competitions for City this season, said: “That’s my aim, to turn up in the big games.

“That’s what I want to do and I think this season I’m proving that. I just need to keep working hard on the training pitch and keep putting performances like that in, keep working hard.

“I understand what it means for the fans, a derby at the Etihad, it means everything for me. To score as well is even better, but overall to get the win was the most important thing today.”

In particular, the association took exception to a claim made by the player that suggested that the JFF had actively played a role in preventing his ability to travel abroad when he attempted to do so as a developing young player.

“From I was 8 or 9 I have been getting 'fight' from the federation. They even tried to block me from going to Europe.  They linked up with the embassy to deny me a visa…the last time I went to Europe I had to fly to Cuba to get my visa,” Bailey told the Let’s Be Honest podcast.

In addressing the issues, via a press release, the JFF expressed disappointment with many of the utterances made by the player and the manner in which the grievances were aired.

Leon Bailey speaks out in explosive interview! The 25 y-o says JA football needs a proper system

“It is unfortunate that Leon has apparently felt this way about the JFF, especially while playing for the Jamaica National team and not expressing it, and knowing his commitment to the program and country. He has indicated that the persons in the JFF, and by implication the JFF, has given him a fight and tried to block him from going to Europe by working through the Embassy…,” the release read.

“This is quite unfortunate as the JFF has always seen Leon as an important member of the National team, and what he has said is baseless and is consistent with recent similar comments made, which we have called for evidence to be shared, either privately or publicly, so that we can act on it. To date, no such evidence has been shared. It is not credible to make anecdotal accusations without evidence, and by doing so seek to damage the reputation of individuals and the JFF as an organisation. We also find it impractical that a child between 8 and 12 years old would understand what the actions and motives of the JFF or any organisation would be, with any clear understanding as first-hand information,” it added.

“In fact, by saying that the JFF has the capability to block an Embassy from issuing a visa, also implies that the Embassy is complicit with the JFF in acting, as he implies, in a “corrupt” manner. The JFF can assure everyone that we do not have the ability to influence a visa decision with any Embassy, and we would never seek to intervene in such a process.”

The release went on to state that the matter had been referred to the team manager and coach for review.

The draw, which was made in Auckland, New Zealand, on Saturday, has seen the Jamaicans drawn in Group F where they will face France, Brazil and the winner of Group C of the inter-continental play-offs.

For the Reggae Girlz, who made history by qualifying for the World Cup for a second consecutive tournament earlier this year, facing Brazil will be a rematch of the 2019 edition where they were also pitted against each other in the first round.

On that occasion, the South Americans, who were World Cup runners up in 2007, won the match 3-0.  Four years later the Jamaicans will face a much-changed unit and will hope for a better result.

“It’s a much different Brazil team, it’s a younger team and a different coach.  Their old coach passed away but Pia (Sundhage) is a very good coach so we will have our work cut out for us,” Donaldson said of the prospect of once again facing the South Americans.

“It’s a young fast skillful Brazilian team, so we just have to be ready,” he added.

“The draw itself, we have been placed with some exciting teams that play good football, so, we have to come out and try to match them.”

The Jamaicans will play against Paraguay in two practice matches on the 10^th and 12^th of November,

Argentinean superstar Lionel Messi came off the bench to score twice as the Albiceleste, who, in truth, looked comfortable despite holding a slim 1-0 lead, blew the game wide open in the last 10 minutes.

By the time the world-famous number 10 entered the fray, in the 56^th minute, Argentina were already 1-0 up courtesy of Julian Alvarez’s tidy finish in the 13^th minute. from there they had struggled to find real goalscoring momentum, that is until Messi entered the pitch.

After stinging the palms of Jamaica goalkeeper Andre Blake with an early attempt, the forward made no mistake blasting his shot well to the left of the keeper, when he got another opportunity, to double the lead in the 86^th minute.  However, sloppy play in midfield led to the dangerous player taking possession at the edge of the area.

Three minutes later, there was real anxiety when the wily forward was brought down just at the top of the 18-yard box.  Those concerns were proven valid when Messi picked himself up and scored the resulting free-kick.  Again the Jamaicans might well feel dissatisfied with their defensive play, as Messi found space through a somewhat disheveled wall to beat Blake again.  The match was the first for Hallgrimsson and he believes despite the errors they were a few positives.

“We lost 3-0 and you are never happy to lose.  Three, zero is a big number but I don’t think it reflects the game on a whole,” Hallgrimsson said.

“It does not reflect the performance of our players, I think we showed an excellent team performance for 80 minutes and we lost a little focus in possession that led to the first and the second goal and then from that lost more focus for the third goal and that cannot happen,” he added.

“Those were the negatives from the match.  We kept them from creating goal-scoring chances, more or less, until the 80^th minute.  After 10 minutes we were finding our feet but after that, we were comfortable with how we played our defensive game.”

The Premier League side suffered a 3-2 penalty shoot-out loss at Bramall Lane after a drab 90 minutes ended goalless.

Defeat continued a poor start to the season for the Blades, who have lost their opening three Premier League games.

They made nine changes for this match, but McCall said none of those players who came in pushed their case.

“A poor flat performance has given us a poor result, there’s no getting away from it,” he said.

“Credit to Lincoln, they made it difficult to play against, but we never moved the ball quick enough and got into areas we wanted to.

“If I’m being honest, we were bored ourselves watching it, we needed more impetus. We didn’t do enough to win the game. It seemed quite flat.

“We have to move on to a huge game on Saturday against Everton.

“There’s no excuses, the side we put out there should perform better. Take nothing away from Lincoln but we were pretty dull.

“We were desperate to win tonight and we put a team out that we believed we could do that.

“We were just boring really, we had no thrust. That is not what we want to be at Bramall Lane. Hugely disappointing throughout the night from start to finish. We can’t afford many of them.”

Lincoln were worthy of victory, which came after Lukas Jensen saved spot-kicks from Louis Marsh and Benie Traore to send his side through.

Boss Mark Kennedy was in philosophical mood after a first victory at Bramall Lane in 40 years.

“There’s only two things human beings fear when they’re born, that’s noise, and falling,” he said. “All the other fear some idiot puts in your head. There’s nothing to fear but fear itself.

“So go and embrace the moment, go and enjoy the day.

“And it’s nights like this that me personally and the players…live for. That’s what you get up for in the morning, win, lose or draw.

“You want to get your head out there, stick your chest out and sometimes you win and the rewards are incredible, the highs are high, the lows are so low, but for me that’s what you get up for, that’s what I come to work for every day.”

The Ammies recorded successive League Two wins for the first time this season thanks to second-half goals from Matt Smith and Kelly N’Mai.

It has been a much-needed resurgence after a dismal run of five consecutive league losses.

“I thought we were outstanding tonight,” said Wood. “The first half was excellent.

“We controlled the game, we tidied up the game when we needed to.

“There was a worry when we didn’t score in the first half. Sometimes you dominate and when you’ve hit the post twice you always wonder if it’s going to come back to bite you.

“It was important to get that first goal and it was a great individual goal from Kelly for the second.

“It is a relief in a way because you pick up wins and you’re out of that run of not winning games.

“But we’re always confident, we’re always working in the background.

“These players are capable and they’ve shown that again tonight by backing up from the weekend.

“They can do it and they need to build on that. We’ve got another game on Saturday and we need to take the confidence from the last two games into that.”

Matt Gray’s U’s are still searching for a first league win since the opening day.

And after Tranmere’s win over Bradford, Sutton already sit five points off safety.

Sutton boss Gray said: “I’m very frustrated because the first goal is always big in any game and especially in the situation we’re in at the moment it’s really important.

“To concede from a corner is really disappointing because it was an even first half. They had a couple of moments, but so did we.

“There were some good bits from us and it felt like a tight and even game.

“We’re very, very competitive in spells but not for the 90 minutes and that’s why we’re in the situation we’re in.

“It’s hard to take because you have to take your moments with the pressure we’ve had.

“It’s poor defending and letting them score from the corner is disappointing.

“We had three really good chances at the end and unfortunately we couldn’t take one of those chances at the death.

“There’s a lot to work on, that’s obvious. But that desire, work ethic and will to get a win is there. That’s a huge plus and we just have to keep working.

“We’re desperate to get this win to get us going.”

In the Whitecaps’ wild card match against the Portland Timbers, a game they won 5-0, opposition manager Phil Neville believed that God was on his side after the game was played at Providence Park, despite Vancouver finishing higher in the Western Conference.

Sartini explained after the result that he did not believe in God but said he would be a welcome Whitecaps supporter in their must-win encounter at the BMO Stadium.

“I don’t know. After last time when I said that I don’t think he exists, I don’t know if he wants to become part of the Whitecaps, but if he does, we will give him an honorary card,” Sartini said.

The Whitecaps forced a deciding game in their best-of-three series after beating LAFC 3-0 at BC Place, the only tie to go the distance in the West.

Vancouvers’ postseason form has seen them play some of their best football this term, and Sartini is hoping for that to continue.

“We had a run in the late summer, and we were playing really well, and we have achieved that same level, and it’s the level of a top four team to be honest,” Sartini added.

“The three games, we knew that the conditions were going to be back, and we knew we were gearing towards the playoffs with all the players arriving and ready to go.

“I know that we will play a good game in Los Angeles, we will. If we win, I don’t know. We will honour this playoff run.”

LAFC, meanwhile, will be aiming to avenge their defeat in Game 2, hoping not to become the second high-profile casualty in the playoffs after the Columbus Crew were eliminated by the New York Red Bulls in the Eastern Conference bracket.

Ryan Gauld opened the scoring in the 10th minute before two own-goals either side of half-time from Ryan Hollingshead and Eddie Segura sealed the win for Vancouver.

LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo bemoaned his side’s slow start to proceedings after finding themselves two goals down inside 13 minutes and is looking to rectify that on home turf this time around.

“If you go back to the 11 games that we lost this season, it has always been the crucial moments at the beginning of the half where we make mental lapses and errors,” Cherundolo said.

“It was a little sloppy mentally and tactically in those moments and that is just not good enough to win games. Against Vancouver, it is difficult because they are a team full of energy.

“They almost always capitalise on opponents’ mistakes, and they did against us. We have nothing to blame but ourselves and we will look to correct those errors in training.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

LAFC – Denis Bouanga

Despite not finding the back of the net in Game 2, Bouanga will be hoping to get himself back among the goals against one of his favoured opponents in the MLS.

He has recorded at least one goal contribution in all five home matches he’s played against Vancouver in all competitions, totalling four goals and four assists over the five matches.

Vancouver Whitecaps – Ryan Gauld

Gauld has scored in four straight matches for the Whitecaps going back to the end of the regular season, including a goal during his side’s victory in Game 2.

The only Whitecaps player to score in five straight MLS matches (regular season and playoffs) is Camilo Sanvezzo between June and July 2013.

MATCH PREDICTION: LAFC WIN

While the series is level heading into the decider, it is LAFC who are predicted to emerge victorious according to Opta’s data-led simulations.

However, their seven-match winning streak in all competitions ended with the loss to Vancouver in Game 2. LAFC have not lost consecutive matches in over a year, since a three-match losing run between August and September 2023.

Vancouver’s 3-0 win last time out ended an eight-match winless run in the best-of-three series. (D2 L6). They have managed only one win in 12 all-time away matches against LAFC (D4 L7) but did beat the Black and Gold in a penalty shootout at BMO Stadium in the Leagues Cup this year.

The Whitecaps’ triumph in Game 2 was their third all-time playoff victory (D2 L8). In those three wins, the Whitecaps have outscored opponents, 13-0, while being outscored 19-6, in their other 10 postseason contests.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

LAFC – 63.1%

Draw – 19.6%

Vancouver Whitecaps – 17.3%

Foden took home the Players' Player of the Year award for the first time, while Palmer was named the Young Player of the Year.

The women's Players' Player of the Year honour went to Shaw, with the Young Player of the Year award copped by Grace Clinton.

Two-time Young Player winner Foden had already been announced as the Premier League Player of the Season and the FWA Footballer of the Year.

Following the midweek ceremony, he has now also been recognised by his fellow professionals after starring in Manchester City's fourth straight title triumph.

Ex-City man Palmer had likewise been nominated for the top award after an outstanding first season at Chelsea, in which he netted 22 league goals.

However, Palmer was not included in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year.

Foden made the cut alongside City team-mate Erling Haaland and Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins in attack.

There were four City players included, with Kyle Walker and Rodri selected, but the champions were outnumbered by Arsenal's five representatives.

David Raya, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard earned recognition, with Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk completing the XI.

The PFA WSL Team of the Year included both Players' Player of the Year Shaw and Young Player of the Year Clinton.

Shaw was one of six City stars in the XI despite her side being pipped to the title by Chelsea, who could count only three players in the team.

The former Schalke player is coming towards the end of his fourth year at Manchester City.

He looked set for a switch to Bayern last year before suffering a major knee ligament injury in the Community Shield against Liverpool in August.

Having battled his way back to fitness, Bayern are again looking set for an attempt to land the 24-year-old.

Former Bayern defender Willy Sagnol says his old club would be better off chasing Bayer Leverkusen's 20-year-old rising star Kai Havertz, however, claiming Sane simply does not fit the bill.

"He doesn't match up at all to Bayern, in terms of character. He's an inconsistent player, who is very withdrawn," Sagnol told French radio station RMC.

"For me, he isn't made for this club.

"He's got lots of problems, at Manchester City and with the national team. We've said that he'd cost €80million. At a pinch, I'd prefer to put down €20m more and buy Havertz to be happy.

"With Havertz, it's the guarantee of a playmaker that you could play with Lewandowski without a problem. [Thomas] Muller won't last forever."

Former Bayern president Uli Hoeness said on Saturday he hoped the club could sign Havertz as well as Sane, but he cast doubt on whether financial realities would allow for that.

“I personally want us to go beyond the first round,” said Ricketts when speaking to SportsMax.TV.

It will be a tough task for the girls who were drawn in Group F alongside powerhouses France and Brazil as well as either Chinese Taipei, Panama, Papua New Guinea or Paraguay. They kick-off their World Cup campaign against the French in Sydney on July 23.

Jamaica will host the Paraguayans for two friendlies in Montego Bay on Thursday and Kingston on Sunday. Ricketts says these games are designed to prepare the girls for the type of opposition they will have to overcome if they are to make noise in Australia and New Zealand.

“We play two games against Paraguay. One in Montego Bay and one in Kingston. It’s a part of our preparation process,” he said.

“We just want some good results. It’s not all about winning but the coaches certainly want to establish a philosophy and a style of play that would make them competitive when they go to the World Cup,” he added.

Ricketts also said that we can expect more friendlies to be scheduled for the girls in the new year.

“We will have discussions with the coaches when we get to Montego Bay just to get an idea of exactly who they would want to play or which teams they would want to engage and then we’ll be having discussions with teams coming up for the February FIFA window.”

The Catherine Hall Sports Complex will play host to the first Paraguay friendly at 8:00pm local time while the second game kicks off at 6:00pm on Sunday at the National Stadium.

It may seem far-fetched given the fact that she has more experienced counterparts Rebecca Spencer and Sydney Schneider to contend with, but much like Schneider rose to prominence during the Girlz World Cup debut in France 2019, the American-born Brooks knows it is by no means impossible.

In France, Schneider, then a 19-year-old rookie, pulled off a stunning penalty save in the Reggae Girlz opening game against Brazil, though they inevitably lost 0-3.

Brooks, 18, is yearning for a big break like that when the Girlz do battle in Group F against France, Brazil and Panama at the July 20 to August 20 World Cup, but until then, she is focused on putting in the necessary work to continue impressing Head coach Lorne Donaldson and his assistants.

"Of course, there’s a competition, and I'll certainly fight for that spot in the starting team which would mean a whole lot to me at this point in my career, but I just want what is best for the team. So even if I wasn’t the one, then that’s ok," Brooks told SportsMax.tv from her base in the United States. 

"I just have to put in the work. Plain and simple and I’ll do that without hesitancy, especially going to college now, I know that will no doubt take my fitness and lifestyle to another level, and I can’t wait for that as well," she added.

Though she is still basking in the fact that she was selected in Donaldson's final squad, Brooks, who earns her Island stripes through her mother Tandi Nelson-Brooks, revealed that celebrations will be low-key, as she braces for her freshman year at Washington State University.

"It’s a great feeling being selected for my first World Cup. There’s nothing like it, because it is the highest stage of competition in both the men and women’s game, so of course it’s a very big achievement. 

"Unfortunately, there are no real celebrations. I’m off to college so an eight-hour car ride is all the celebration I’ll be doing, but I’ll be happy to celebrate a little with my new teammates, who I'm sure are just as happy as I am," she shared.

Still, the sense of pride and accomplishment Brooks feels cannot be understated having successfully transitioned from Under-17 and Under-20 representation, where she showed immense ability, which caught the senior Reggae Girlz coach staff's attention since their historic tour of South Korea late last year.

"It’s extremely massive. It puts my name on the international map at the senior level at an early stage, but for me it just makes me hungrier to strive for more than a spot on the roster next time," Brooks declared. 

"I want to play and being around the senior players have shown me that there is always work to be done, but I’ll learn from those around me and use my own experiences along the way to get there. The aim is always to push as hard as possible and to be a better player and these experiences will help me to improve," she noted.

That said, the tall and agile goalkeeper admitted that the initial stages of her transition were nerve-wracking and did indeed test her mettle but credited her more senior counterparts for their guidance in ensuring she held firm.

"It definitely wasn’t easy and still isn’t. The team itself is great and very welcoming, but I personally struggle with my own confidence and that’s what can bring down my performance at times. The team recognized that and encouraged me instead," she explained.

"Becky [Spencer] and Syd [Schneider] are amazing. They are excellent players and even better people. Alyssa [Whitehead], our goalkeeper coach, is as well. All three of them inspire me and push me to be a better player whether they know it or not. That made it really fun, and they got me through even my physically tough training," Brooks ended.

According to a January 27, 2024 New York Times article, these rulings “cast doubt on the legal basis for a host of prosecutions” surrounding those involved in scandals coming out of the December 2015 raids on FIFA officials in Zurich, Switzerland.

In June 2011, Warner, who was then provisionally suspended by the world football governing body for alleged corruption, resigned from all his international football posts. Warner was one of 14 top FIFA officials and corporate executives to be accused of corruption, fraud and money laundering while he was FIFA vice-president.

Warner was later indicted in 29 charges of corruption in the US in 2015. Extradition proceedings against him remain on hold.

In an interview with i95.5FM last Thursday, Warner said the court’s ruling to toss the convictions of an ex-21st Century Fox executive and sports marketing company on corruption charges in a case involving FIFA has him feeling relieved.

That September case, according to the New York Times, is one in which “the two defendants benefited from two recent Supreme Court rulings that had rejected federal prosecutors’ application of the law at play in the soccer cases and offered rare guidance on what is known as honest services fraud.

“The defendants in the soccer trial had been found to have engaged in bribery that deprived organizations outside the US of their employees’ honest services, which constituted fraud at the time. But the judge ruled that the court’s new guidance meant that those actions were no longer prohibited under American law.”

On this decision, Warner declared his agreement.

“I am in firm agreement with the US Supreme Court statement on the matter. I always knew the US were wrong to attack and destroy FIFA and destroy people’s lives just because they didn’t get a World Cup venue,” Warner said, referring to the US' failed 2022 World Cup bid.

That World Cup bid was won by Qatar, but several FIFA officials, including Warner, were accused of accepting bribes.

“It is utterly ridiculous for people to be imprisoned and to be charged for being a member of a private organisation as FIFA, and to be charged by the US government on what they did or did not do during their stay in FIFA,” Warner argued.

“I am feeling relieved. My life has been destroyed, my family’s life has been destroyed and I have spent tonnes of money on this matter. All I did was to tell FIFA that it is time to change the paradigm of giving the World Cup to Europe and South America. I said to them, ‘just go to the Middle East’.

“It is this that has caused me to be where I am today. The irony is that people in the Middle East, thanks to my efforts and others, Qatar (which hosted the World Cup in 2022) has produced one of the best World Cups this world has ever seen. So, I feel vindicated in a sense for what I have done, but the price that I have paid for that is overbearing,” he added.

In a letter dated March 17, 2020, FIFA notified the TTFA that it was appointing a normalization committee to oversee the running of the association until such time there is an election to have an election to elect a new executive.

FIFA’s reasoned that the takeover of the heavily indebted TTFA was necessary due to the fact that there were “no formal internal policies and internal controls in place, such as procurement, the delegation of financial authorities, financial planning and budgeting, effective oversight of funding and management reporting, which are necessary to meet the TTFA’s objectives.”

FIFA also said there is a lack of documented policies and procedures, financial planning and management of statutory liabilities adding that there no short or long-term plan to address the “urgent” situation.

The TTFA is over USD$5million in debt, much of it from the David John-Williams administration that was ousted in the TTFA elections held in November 2019.

The new administration led by William Wallace was in power for four months when FIFA decided to take over its operations.

However, Yorke, who played for Trinidad and Tobago at a time when they were the top team in the Caribbean while speaking with Andre Baptiste on Isports on i95.5fm Programme on Saturday,  backed FIFA, saying the country’s football was at stake.

"When it comes to football, things have to change. We have tried all aspects of it before. We know how successful we have been in 2006. I think football has been in decline for a number of years. I think this is the right move and we all have to get back and focus and maybe think about the youth," said Yorke, who also urged aspiring professional footballers in Trinidad to pursue their dreams.

"The youths are the future of the football and I call on all the footballers out there who are aspiring to represent their country, to continue to work hard because it is the only way forward and they must have that belief and hopefully, our country will one day find its way back on the world stage again.”

Yorke also expressed a desire to play a part in the development of the country’s football.

"I have always been (interested), I have never shied away from that I have always wanted to play an intricate part in whatever way it's possible,” he said.

“I can help the young people of T&T as I have said before. I have a lot of knowledge and experience over the years and I feel that I can contribute a lot to T&T’s football, hopefully."

The ousted executive of the TTFA has taken the matter before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) seeking for them to set aside the FIFA decision.

“I don’t anticipate, despite the political strength of the Caribbean nations within CONCACAF, another CONCACAF president from the Caribbean or the CFU for quite some time,” Hislop said during the Caribbean Conference on Corruption, Compliance and Cyber Crime held virtually last week.

“You have two presidents back-to-back, both black men from the Caribbean, both swept up in that scandal and, as a result, I think regionally there was a lack of trust around Caribbean administrators,” he added.

Canadian businessman Victor Montagliani has been CONCACAF president since May 2016.

Trinidad’s Warner served as CONCACAF President from 1990-2011. He was indicted on fraud charges and banned from all football-related activities by FIFA for life in 2015.

US prosecutors allege that from as far back as 1990, he leveraged his influence and exploited his official positions for personal gain.

Among other things, the 79-year-old former football administrator is accused of receiving US$5 million in bribes to vote for Russia to host the 2018 World Cup. 

In November this year, Warner lost his fight at the Privy Council against extradition to the United States on corruption charges.

Webb, a Caymanian, took the reins as head of CONCACAF from 2012-2015. 

In May 2015, Webb was arrested for corruption charges by Swiss police acting at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice on charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. That same month he was banned by FIFA Ethics Committee and ,in November 2015, pleaded guilty and agreed to forfeit more than US$6.7 million.

“We are living that legacy; We are still hoping that people take notice of the Caribbean. We are not able to advocate for ourselves and, for me, that is a desperate position for us to be in but that is the position that we have found ourselves in because of the legacies of those two people,” Hislop said.

Hislop, who was born in London and represented clubs like Newcastle United and West Ham United throughout his 15-year career, said he hopes some good comes out of the situation.

“Longer term, I hope that what has happened forces change, not just in Caribbean or Concacaf football, but in world football. Recognizing how easily the system can be perverted and how you need to have those checks and balances to better serve the global game.”

So, while he gears up for another challenging and demanding campaign, Eve is confident in the depth of his player pool, which he expects to showcase their competitiveness and possibly rewrite the history books.

Much like it was against United States, when the Soca Warriors came away 2-1 winners, Eve knows their CONMEBOL Copa America playoff contest against Canada will be tough, but he remains optimistic about his team's ability to overcome the stiff competition on March 23, and qualify for the prestigious Copa America tournament.

“Like the US team, the Canada team is built up the same, (with) a lot of European-based players. Some of the players (are) playing in the MLS (Major League Soccer), some playing back home, but most of the players are playing in Europe and they are playing with good teams,” Eve assessed.

“But we think we can go in there; we think we can compete with anyone right now and we want to show that. We want to show that confidence that we could go out on the park and compete with anyone,” he added.

Eve incorporated new players into his training squad for a recently-concluded four-day camp, which could be a move to bring a fresh dynamic to their gameplay. Still, he believes that with the right application, the team will compete strongly against Canada and, by extension, in the Concacaf World Cup qualifiers, which promises to be both demanding and exciting.

“We just have to be tactically aware. A coach can only give instructions. When the players go out there, they have to have the mindset to play the position, to play the role that the coaches give them to the best of their ability because, a coach could never tell a player what to do for every second of every minute of a game,” he reasoned.

The Soca Warriors will have two practice games against Jamaica early next month, ahead of the Copa America qualifier against Canada. The Reggae Boyz trip to Trinidad follows the Soca Warriors tour of Jamaica last year for two friendly matches.

“They promised to return that favour to us, so these two games are supposed to be in early March. We will use those games as the final two warm-up games going into the CONMEBOL playoff match and when that happens, then we will pick that final squad,” Eve declared.

He also welcomed the fact that two players –Reon Moore of Defence Force and Real Gill of Club Sando –have been signed to play overseas in the Canadian Premier League and United Soccer League, respectively.

This, the tactician believes is another step in the right direction to not only assist in the players preparations for the challenges ahead, but more importantly, for football in the twin island republic.

“It shows that the work that we are doing (is good) and people are identifying players again, because we (once) had the same set of players getting contracts all the time. This is a new batch of players who are getting contracts, and I could tell you, when people see them playing with the national team, that is how they get that sort of exposure,” Eve shared.

“It shows that people are watching us again and watching our players and that augurs well for the country and for the team on a whole,” he ended.

The Americans sprinted out to a 2-0 lead through goals from Sophia Smith in the fifth and eighth minutes before adding three more goals in the second half through Rose Lavelle (59^th), Kristie Mewis (83^rd) and Trinity Rodman (86^th) to complete the 5-0 demolition at the Estadio BBVA Bancomer.

“I didn’t think it’d take 10 minutes. We gave up two goals in six minutes and you’re not going to play the World Champs and expect anything out of the game playing the way we did. We weren’t good,” Donaldson said in a post-match press conference.

“The Americans are the best team in the world. When you play the champions at the top of their game, bad things will happen if you don’t play well and we didn’t,” Donaldson added.

The Reggae Girlz are now third in Group A with three points after two games with their third and final preliminary encounter coming against Haiti on Monday.

The Haitians also have three points and will go into that game with supreme confidence after a convincing 3-0 win over Mexico on Thursday.

The winner of Monday’s match will join the USA as automatic qualifiers to next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand while the loser will most likely have to book their spot through an inter-continental playoff.

“I think we’re going to be fine and ready,” Donaldson said.

The Manchester City striker was in fine form in Monday’s game, scoring a brace to help her side to a dominant 4-0 victory over the Haitians to secure a second consecutive World Cup berth.

“It means a lot, especially because throughout the beginning of the campaign we came under a lot of pressure. We just stood together and held our composure,” said Shaw.

“We knew that once we did that, at the end of the day we were going to be victorious and, I think, it just goes to show that we’re a small island, but we can do big things,” Shaw added.

Despite already booking their spot in Australia and New Zealand next year, their CONCACAF Women’s Championship campaign is not over with a semi-final against Canada on Thursday at 9:00pm Jamaica time (10:00pm EST). Defending world champions the USA will tackle Costa Rica in the other semi-final. 

Shaw outlined how the team can overcome the challenge of the unbeaten Canadians.

“We need to remain confident and stay positive. We also have to continue to support each other and communicate. If we continue to stick together and stay confident, I’m sure we can do big things,” Shaw said.

In fact, Head coach Lorne Donaldson would readily declare that the possibility of his Reggae Girlz achieving the feat is by no means impossible. Still, he is under no illusion that defeating or merely taking points off the new-look, young and formidable Brazil outfit, as well as the well-organised and experienced France team, will be easy.

While their just-concluded camp in Amsterdam inspires confidence, as it assisted in fine-tuning certain technical and tactical aspects, Donaldson admits that the team is still not yet where he wants them to be with the July 20 to August 20 global showpiece in Australia and New Zealand, now nine days away.

“The camp was good; I wish we had a game which would have been the true test, but it was good, nonetheless. The players worked hard, and they seem very focused, but we're not there yet.

“We still have a few more days to go, so we start working on some of the tactical stuff and I the players are going in with a sense of purpose because they know what's at stake,” Donaldson told Sportsmax.tv shortly after arriving in Australia on Monday.

Since the start of their build up to the World Cup, Donaldson has stressed the importance of holding a tight defensive line, being very well organised and more effective when in possession, if they want to be competitive.

The 43^rd-ranked Reggae Girlz will open Group F play on July 23 against the number five-ranked Les Bleues, which is now the centre of their focus.

“I think France is playing a game (against Australia on Friday), so we might get a look at what their starting squad is like and just see exactly how we want to approach the game and how we want to match up against them and just go from there. If we want to be competitive, we will need to defend, and be very well organised and when we have possession, we would like to be more effective,” Donaldson shared.

“So, we still have some tactical stuff to look at and work on. I think our players know that they have to show up and be ready to perform so that makes life a little bit easier sometimes, but yes, we have to hold them accountable for certain things especially tactical mistakes,” he added.

After France, the Girlz will then tackle 52^nd-ranked Panama on July 29, before closing against 8^th-ranked Brazil on August 2.

However, before all of that, they will engage on final preparation game against Morocco which Donaldson believes will serve them well to lock in their plan towards efficient execution Down Under.

“We will use that game to try some things, we will give as much players as possible some minutes because the aim is to improve the work that we're doing, and we saw some stuff that we need to clean up. So, we will use this game to do that and then look at some tape with the players to see how much more we can brush up on our execution,” the coach noted.

That said, Donaldson, who was an assistant to Hue Menzies when the Girlz were hammered 0-3, 0-5 and 1-4 by Brazil, Italy and Australia on their World Cup debut in France in 2019, said they have no intentions of going out in that manner on this occasion.

“We expect to do well and get something out of the tournament,” he declared.

“We are not going to come here to the World Cup to lay down, we are going to push to get some success. We are planning to get out of the group, whichever way we have to get it done, we intend to get it done. So, it's just a matter of how well we execute when it comes to the big day,” Donaldson ended.

Earlier this week, JFF president, Michael Ricketts, and his general secretary, Dalton Wint, indicated anger at comments the player made suggesting the organization would be at fault if the Reggae Boyz were not at the next World Cup in Qatar.

The JFF was also displeased with Bailey’s criticism of Reggae Boyz coach, Theodore Whitmore.

Bailey had suggested that Whitmore’s squad rotation policy was counterproductive and didn’t engender the building of chemistry among players.

According to Butler, Bailey’s comments were made to a friend talking to him about his life, suggesting that the player was free to have an opinion in his private capacity.

Both Wint and Ricketts had suggested that there were contractual obligations that the player had that would make his comments out of order but Butler has refuted this as well, saying while Bailey has been playing for Jamaica, there is no contract between him and the JFF.

Wint had said he would be issuing a cease and desist order on the player in a bid to show the JFF would not be tolerating that kind of behaviour but Butler has said the organization has no legal standing to issue such an order given that the two entities have no contract.

“We as the management of Leon Bailey had sought a contractual agreement with the Jamaica Football Federation with the player. In this way, the player would be entitled to know what is and is not expected or allowed by the JFF and our client would be also aware of what to expect as compensation for his services.

“To date, our client has not been provided a contract to agree or not agree to,” read a statement from Phoenix Sports Management on Butler’s Facebook page.

“Article 3 of the Fifa statutes address the right to freedom of speech and also the responsibility of officials to ensure that freedom of speech and expression is not compromised,” read the statement.

Butler also went on to say Bailey’s statements were right on the money with the JFF being directly responsible for the success or failure of its senior unit given that it was in charge of team selection.

“He [Bailey] lay the responsibility for success or failure directly at the feet of those ultimately responsible for selection, team management and business negotiations. The Jamaica Football Federation

There can be no Authority without Responsibility,” the statement read.

“Nothing in Bailey's verbiage was libellous or inaccurate,” it went on.

Butler went on to speak about player compensation, placing the blame, at least in part, for an injury Bailey suffered because of the lack of payment.

“Our client has had to pay his own airfare to games. Our client suffered a hamstring injury which was clearly contributed to by having to fly 13 hours with several stops in economy and then asked to train the very next day,” Butler’s statement read.

According to Bailey’s management team, issues like the one mentioned in the statement are just some of the facts Bailey could have revealed but chose not to, even though it is his right.

“Our client has to date not been compensated even one penny by the JFF after promising to pay the players after the last game. Our client had not exposed this to the public or that this was an across the board situation of mismanagement by the JFF.

Our client could have said many things yet he decided against doing anything other than put things in true perspective.”

According to Phoenix Management, Bailey has spoken out about poor treatment in his capacity as a club player but faced no sanctions by the club because it was seen as his right. The same, he said, has been true of others in the JFF hierarchy, who have faced no sanctions.

“Carvel Stewart president of HARBOUR VIEW FC RECENTLY made some scathing remarks regarding the JFF and its leadership and protocols. Yet we haven’t heard of any sanctioning of this a JFF board member in a leadership capacity,” read the statement.

According to Phoenix management, Bailey’s statements are correct and it stands behind them.

But the management team went even further, suggesting Bailey would stop playing for the national team if it were proven that any of his statements were untrue.

“Should it be in the best interest of football, Leon has no problems taking time off international football if his countrymen and teammates believe his statements are untrue.

He has to travel long distances to come back to Jamaica from Europe to train and perform for his country. If the country does not want him, then we will consider our options for him during international breaks to be to work on his attributes and skills.”