Trinidad and Tobago has picked it's squad for it's October 10th  game versus Jamaica. This time there is no need for Dwight Yorke or Russell Latapy to fax there availability to the TTFF. The two star players were not included in a 18 man squad by national head coach Bertile St. Clair.

Included in the team is Evans Wise the striker at Bundesliga club SSV Ulm. Wise has been recalled to the national team after more than a year away from the national spotlight.

Also, included in the squad is Avery John who recently signed a contract with Irish Premiership club Bohemians FC. Together with Marvin Andrews and Ansil Elcock the trio will form the corp. of the T&T defense.

Speaking to the Trinidad Express national team manager under scored the importance of playing international friendlies. He stated: "A team is not just 11 players on the field, a team is a psychological unit so it is unwise to just put a team on the field willy nilly. These friendlies are used to develop everything from team spirit to cohesion so we do not agree with the belief that we should not take these games seriously."

T&T squad: Shaka Hislop (West Ham United, England), Michael McComie (Joe Public), Shurland David (San Juan Jabloteh), Derek King, Lyndon Andrews (W Connection), Ansil Elcock, Stern John (Columbus Crew), Avery John (BohemiansFC, Ireland), Anthony Rougier (Port Vale), Marvin Andrews (Raith Rovers), Stokely Mason, Angus Eve, Arnold Dwarika (Joe Public), Brent Sancho (Terverit FC, Finland), Evan Wise (SSV Ulm, Germany) Mickey Trotman (Le High Valley), Gary Glasgow (Richmond Kickers), Jerren Nixon (FC Zurich).

McComie the third string goalie behind Shaka Hislop and Ince is headed to Chester for a ten day trial later on this month. Should he be successful he will be the third local goalie to play in Europe this year.

TTFF president... sorry Fifa vice president Jack Warner wants an explanation on why T&T star players Dwight Yorke and Russell Latapy failed to show up for T&T's game with Colombia last week. T&T won the game 4-3 on the strength of three goals by Stern John.

Warner sent a letter to the two players asking them to give the reason why they were absent for the kick off to Project 2002 a program designed to get T&T to the World Cup. Warner stated that if the players did not give a adequate reason they could face the possibility of sanctions. Warner did not state the sanctions but it would most likely be in the form of a ban from international football for a period of time.

Earlier this week Latapy's agent gave a reason why he did not play in the Colombia match. He stated that he was only released for the Costa Rica game originally scheduled for September 5th. That game was canceled and the the Colombian game was rescheduled for September 8th. The rescheduling made it difficult for Latapy's manager to release him. Manager Alex McLeish was concerned that Latapy would not be able to recuperate in time for last weekend's game with Dundee United.

Dwight Yorke's explanation for missing the game still remains a groin strain. Last weekend Latapy scored the only goal in a 3-1 lost to Dundee United. It was Hibernian's second lost in a row. Dwight Yorke played in Man U's game versus Liverpool. They won the game 3-2 without Yorke finding the back of the net.

The Trinidad and Tobago under 23 team will face Barbados in Olympic qualifiers later this month.

Click here for the full schedule.

Trinidad and Tobago has climbed further up the Fifa world rankings. For the first time in over a year the Calypso boyz have over taken the Reggae boyz in the rankings. T&T moved up seven places to 42nd in the world compared to Jamaica's 43rd. Jamaica slipped one place since last month.

T&T's rise is due to it's win over Colombia last week. They are now ranked third in Concacaf behind Mexico(10th) and the USA (20th). T&T along with Cuba are among the fastest rising countries in the world rankings this year. They have moved up 35 places since December.

The rankings should be taken with a grain of salt. The teams at the top of the ranking are all there via Euro 2000 qualifying. If you want to see how the rankings are so biased towards tournaments, look at Canada's ranking after they play in the Gold Cup qualifying tournament next month. This month they are ranked 94th, next month they should be in the high 70' to low 80's.

The game will kick off the tournament that will run until the 3rd of October. You can purchase the tickets online at: www.tickets.com. While you are in Vegas say hello to Elvis. Apparently he is working at a gas station just outside the main strip.

T&T beats Colombia

Nixon...Getting a better angle on the ball.

Trinidad and Tobago defeated Colombia by 4-3 last night in Miami. The game was used as a launching for the World Cup campaign starting next year.

The win pushes T&T's record to 8 wins and 0 loses. In that time T&T has beaten three World Cup finalist qualifiers and has scored 26 goals and conceded just six. The win is T&T's second victory on US soil in four years. The last time it was a  3-1 victory versus Honduras in the Gold Cup. In that game Stern John scored two goals.

For Colombia the game is a minor setback. Of more concern to the Colombians is the four goals that they conceded. In 19 years Colombia has allowed four goals in a game only twice. Colombia fell 4-1 to Poland in 1980 and 4-1 to Chile in 1997 during the last World Cup qualifiers. El Tiempo, the leading Colombian newspaper said that the Colombian defense had basically let the T&T walk into "the shop." They said that the game would have been worse for Colombia had Dwight Yorke played.

The last time I checked, Jamaica had all of it's foreign based players back for there encounter versus the USA last night and most of them back for there game versus Canada last week. The players used this opportunity to improve there cohesion. Jamaica got the most out of there foreign based players who up to three years ago were virtual no names to the fans of Jamaica.

One great example is Marcus Gayle the talented Wimbleton midfielder. He used the Euro 2000 qualifying break to play for Jamaica not only  for the game last night but for the two game series.    Gayle is extremely important to Wimbleton and they too have important fixtures this season. However, he showed where his commitment lay and that was getting Jamaica into the next World Cup.

The excuse used by Yorke and Latapy boarders on ridiculous. Both players did there country a great disservice last night. Even though Trinidad and Tobago won the game, the integration of the team  was greatly compromised. That failure to integrate was one of the key problems T&T had during the last World Cup qualifiers.

The next time that T&T plays will be versus Jamaica in Kingston on October 2nd. Lets hope that these two players will suit up and give the Reggaeboyz a run for there money.

Another one joins the race.

John...Only a matter of time.

This comes on the heals of a £1.5 million bid from first division club Nottingham Forrest. John last week was scouted by Forrest manager David Platt. John is also being pursued by teams in Germany.

However, the Columbus Crew seem unwilling to give John up until the end of the season. The MLS is said to have placed a US$ 2 million price tag on John. The MLS holds all contracts of players in the league and it is up to them to accept or reject the bid for John.

Watford has tried to acquire Trinidad and Tobago talent before. Two years ago Jerren Nixon had all but signed on the dotted line for a transfer from FC Zurich. However, he suffered a injury that made the deal fall through the cracks.

The fee is reported to be in the region of £ 50,000 to be paid to local club Defense Force. This is the second tine that Ince has applied for the British work permit. While at Wrexham his application was denied and his move to the Welsh based club squashed. This time around he acquired his permit due to a relaxing of restrictions by the Home Office. They have dropped the requirement that the player is among the top earners at his new club. Also, Trinidad and Tobago's position in the Fifa World Rankings also contributed to his application being approved.

Clayton Ince, the cousin of former England captain Paul Ince, is the top local goal keeper and has over 60 caps for the national team. He becomes the second goalie from Trinidad to play in England. He joins Shaka Hislop at West Ham in the English Premiership.

Yorke had previously won the Humming Bird medal back in 1993. Last season Yorke was the leading goal scorer in England last year and helped propel Manchester United to the triple crown of the European Cup, FA Cup and the League title. Because of his play he was named Carling "Player of the Season."

If you can tell go to the forum located at: http://disc.server.com/Indices/11309.html and let the folks know. One hint: Bertile St. Clair like him alot.