Philadelphia Union, club of T&T duo Keon Daniel and Thorne Holder, are currently negotiating with Spanish giants Real Madrid for a possible friendly this summer.

Madrid were reportedly set to play Mexican club Club America in the World Football Classic on July 23, but that game is now off which could see Union in for the affair.

The Union would have to work out a schedule change with the Seattle Sounders to make the friendly happen, as the two teams are currently scheduled by MLS to play in Seattle on July 23. Real Salt Lake and the Union came to an agreement earlier this year to reschedule a game at Rio Tinto in order to give Salt Lake a week of rest prior to playing in the CONCACAF Champions League Final. 

In MLS action on the weekend, Daniel played for 73 minutes Union lost 2-0 to Dallas. Chris Birchall came on in the 81st minute in La Galaxy’s 4-1 win over Sporting Kansas City while Julius James played the entire match as Columbus Crew lost 3-0 to San Jose Earthquakes with T&T forward Scott Sealy staying on the bench for the latter side.
 (May 17,2011)

Former Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke believes that his old team-mate Paul Scholes is the greatest player in the club's history.

The midfielder, who played alongside Yorke in the famous treble-winning team of the 1998-99 season, has come in for criticism this season, with many calling on the 36-year-old to retire, particularly after he was sent off in the defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.

Speaking exclusively to Goal.com, Yorke said: "In my eyes Paul Scholes is the best Man United player of all time.

"I still see Scholesy train. He is still one of the best players out there. Unfortunately he does not have as many opportunities because in the past if you picked a Manchester United team he is the first name. When we are picking a team among ourselves everyone wants Scholesy because any team he is in will control the ball.

"So I think one more year would be ideal for Paul Scholes but I know for a fact that he is contemplating whether he wants to have one more year or not."

The former Trinidad and Tobago international made his name at Old Trafford alongside Andy Cole, with the pair scoring 53 goals in his debut season at the club as United went on to win the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League.

Now, United appeared to have found another world class striking partnership in Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez, and Yorke feels that they are a deadly asset.

He said: "They are so great to see. In every team you want your strikers to play well. There is no point in having those great midfielders and defenders if your strikers are not great because at the end of the day, these are the players that will win you football matches. They have a great combination.

"What is exciting about them is that one goes long and one goes short and that is the ideal partnership or combination. You don't want two players being similar with both coming for the ball.

"Chicharito is not interested in coming to the ball. He is only interested in getting beyond and getting a goal. Rooney is interested in coming back and linking the play.

"Once you are running towards the goal the way he [Chicharito] does and you have such players behind you, you will always score goals. I think they are a great asset to have."

Yorke also played for Aston Villa, Blackburn and Sunderland in the Premier League but insisted that Sir Alex Ferguson was the greatest manager that he ever played under.

He said: "He [Ferguson] is second to none. He is the best manger I played under without a doubt.

"He is great in motivating players. But who motivates him you wonder? He comes every day to the training but he could be sitting at home."

Manchester City were playing in Division Two [the equivalent of League One] when Yorke joined United in 1998 but having seen them rise in stature following their multi-million pound takeover a decade later, the former striker admitted that the club have become a force to be reckoned with, and predicts they will become stronger in the years to come.

"You'd be silly to ignore them," said Yorke. "I'm not saying money will buy you success, not at all, but it certainly helps and they are just beginning to see the fruits of their ambition.

"As long as they have the pockets deep enough to keep attracting top names to the club, and crucially, players who are at their peak, then they're going to be contenders.

"Whether they can bring the combination of players together who can win the title is a different challenge.

"Alex Ferguson said recently that he felt the league was getting harder to win, rather than easier which is interesting for a guy who has won it as often as him.

"Maybe he's playing mind games with the other clubs who are looking to win a league trophy and knocking them down a peg or two, but it certainly won't be an easy task to win a league regardless of how much money they have to spend."

Dwight Yorke is an expert analyst on AD Sports channels this weekend as the Barclays Premier League reaches its climax with Manchester United lifting the title for a record ninth time and a host of other clubs battling to avoid relegation. (May 21,2011)

SW Touring will host its inaugural five-a-side beach football competition on June 11 and 12 at the Beach Volleyball Courts, Saith Park, Chaguanas.

Sixteen teams are expected to compete in the competition which is part of SW Touring’s community out-reach programme for Chaguanas and environs being facilitated in collaboration with the Chaguanas Borough Corporation.

The winners of the tournament will walk away with the winner-take-all $15,000 top prize and the challenge trophy, medals and beach football bragging rights.

Other awards up for grabs include the runner-up trophy, Most Valuable Player, Golden Boot and Golden Gloves. Geoffrey Edwards, the Tournament Event Manager noted the competition is the continuation of their drive as a sport event management organisation to provide information and sensitise the nation of the different variants of the sport of football.

“We also see this as an opportunity to bridge the social and sporting gap, contribute to cross cultural dialogue, understanding, unity, tolerance and peaceful coexistence in the borough of Chaguanas. The SW Touring Committee also praised the Mayor of Chaguanas, the Honourable Orlando Nagessar for his collaboration in this sporting venture.

In addition, to the football, tournament attractions for spectators and participants include the 25 foot rock climbing wall, gaming booths powered by Gaming Emporium, a massage parlour and obstacle competitions.

Registration per team (ten players maximum) is $1,600. For further tournament details, including team registration call 765-4439 or email your team’s name and contact personal information to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Persons can also follow the event on facebook— keywords “Beasal invitational Sand SOCCER Sun”

Tournament sponsors includes Heineken, Amstel, Green Sands, Malta Carib, LLB, Turbo Energy, Blue Waters, Gaming Emporium and Body Mates by Rachel. (May 19,2011)

He’s largely considered as the best playmaker and most skillful attacking players to arrive on the international stage for this country after Russell Latapy. And like the latter, he’s no longer playing and has chosen the path of coaching in an attempt to remain in the game.

Arnold Dwarika, the former diminutive Malick Senior Comp and Joe Public player was among the local coaches who completed the TTFF/Dutch “C” License coaching course at the Hasely Crawford Stadium last Friday. At present, Dwarika, who earned his last pick as a player under Francisco Maturana in 2009, is a member of the DirecTV North East Stars coaching staff.

He misses playing but is eager to stay in the game.

“It’s a learning process for me and a chance for me to help develop the younger players to the standard that is required for international football or moving on to play overseas. It’s a bit different being on the other side of the line. It’s a time to put things into perspective to making players achieve what you want and it’s up to me to do it from a coaching aspect.  It will be a bit difficult for me talking from the other side of the line as compared to how it was for me from on the inside of the line of a player,” Dwarika said.

“I think this course is the right to start off for a person like me who is coming over from being a player. I always like challenges.  Coaching will have the ups and downs but this is why we are part of these courses. It’s about learning how to make the games more enjoyable and loveable for the younger ones. We have a youth program in place at North East so it’s a matter of applying what we are learning at this course.  The overall development will not come overnight. It’s a phase where we need to be patient. This course is about developing the youths so that when they go to the national level, the coaches will not have the problem of having to teach them the basics.

“I’ll always miss playing. I don’t know when I’ll stop miss playing but this is a great step for me to be part of it,” added Dwarika who played for scored nine goals in 46 appearances for Scottish club East Fife between 1995-1997 and is still regarded as one of the better players to have graced that club from outside of Europe.

Dwarika playing career stemmed from 1992 when he appeared for Defence Force and followed by playing for the likes of Al Ansar in Lebanon, Guangzhou Rizhiquan, Qingdao Hailifeng and Beijing Guoan in China alongside Gary Glasgow, W Connection, United Petrotrin, Superstar Rangers, Trinity Pros and East Fife. He netted 28 goals in 72 appearances for T&T during which period he won the T&T “Player of the year in 1998, 1999 and 2001 and also capped the Caribbean top player award in 1999 whole earning the T&T Pro league topscorer award with 45 goals in 1999 and followed up that season with a performance that earned him selection on the Concacaf Gold Cup “All Star” team in 2000 alongside Latapy and Dwight Yorke. Other notable names on that All star eleven included Mexico’s Rafael Marquez and  Ramon Ramirez and American Cobi Jones.