By Iva Wharton
Western Tigers may not have returned with a prize but they have secured valuable experience from the Inter-Guiana Cup played in Suriname at the Andre Kamperveen Stadium, Paramaribo, over the weekend.
Western Tigers Coach, Clive Allen, in an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport yesterday, said the team performed creditably given the short notice they had.
“We played our first game against Robin Hood which is the number one team in Suriname presently and they beat us 1-0 and I think it was a well balanced game. We performed and gave our best.”
Allen said it was a tough encounter physically for the players given the preparation time they had as a team.
“The fitness was not up to standard but the team played well after losing the first game. In our second game we exposed seven of our under-19 players and they did well against US Matoury which is the French Guiana number one team, we lost that game 2-0. So we lost both games but all in all I think we learned a lot and the experience would have been a valuable one.”
According to Allen, he is satisfied with the performance of his players given the fact that the clubs they played were professionals while they are still at the amateur level.
“These players that we came up against get paid to play and to go up there and match ourselves against those players we performed relatively well and I think it was a well worthwhile trip.”
Coach Allen said that they went into the competition with the aim of exposing all 21 of their players as it was not about them winning or losing but the development of the players and also to help build their morale as they prepare for the CONCACAF tournament next year.
“I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag, but we might be having another international tournament before the year is out. So I think all in all it is a good thing for the players and a good thing for the future of Western Tigers.”
Quizzed on Western Tigers next international encounter, Allen said that the tour might be held in French Guiana sometime in October.
He said too given the chemistry shared by this bunch of players he would like them to stay together for that tour. “We had a balance of experience and youth with the focus being on the youths. We had seven under-19 players who will be the future of Western Tigers in the next two years to come.”
Allen explained that none of the players who travelled to Suriname are on the junior or senior national teams. That, he said, is a disappointment given that Western Tigers has a number of talented players.
He said that since Devon Millington returned injured from Suriname during the World Cup qualifiers no other player from the team has made the national team.
