Trinidad and Tobago Men’s football team captain, Khaleem Hyland, is stuck in Saudi Arabia without his lifeblood, football, but he does send a message filled with hope.
According to Hyland, life without football is tough, especially when he cannot leave Saudi Arabia to be with his family in the twin-island republic, but still, there is opportunity in the midst of all this.
“It’s been difficult for everyone as not being able to play football is very hard to endure. I see everyone posting all this time without football and life is not normal. The supporters and players both here and at home have a challenging time to get through,” said Hyland.
“I wish everyone the best of health and best of luck. We know the procedures we need to follow to be clean and be healthy. We need to rally together as a country to get it all back on track. Hopefully, we can live as one again as a country and as people in this world,” he said.
As for T&T’s football, Hyland believes there is work to be done to get it back to where it should be, but that there are the tools to do it.
“Now we have a new coach. It’s been a while now Terry Fenwick has been aiming and hoping that he would get the job. Congratulations to him. I worked with him at a young age at Jabloteh and I know he is a very good person. He knows what he wants and he knows how to get information to players and get quality out of them. He tends to have his ideas and plans on board,” said Hyland.
According to the Al-Faisaly midfielder, while he has much respect for Fenwick, he is also aware that how quickly T&T can recover post-COVID-19 also depends heavily on the players and fans.
“Hopefully we can all work for the best for our country and for our football to move onto the right track and hopefully we can move on to better ways, winning ways or to even a better structure than the past,” he said.
“We just have to look forward to the future and work hard as a team. Everyone needs to do their own homework also. It’s a new coach in charge now and everyone has a chance to show what they can do and bring forward the best towards the national team. We are representing the Red, White and Black and we need to do our best for our country. It is an honour to always wear the colours of Trinidad and Tobago.”
On a more personal note, Hyland has been keeping fit in the hope that football in Saudi Arabia can restart sooner rather than later.
“I’ve been going through my paces every day, working hard, training hard The last couple months paid off with me getting on the scoresheet and the team doing great before COVID-19 took over,” he said.
Hyland also had a word for his family in a difficult time, assuring them he is safe.
“Right now here in Saudi Arabia and in the world everything is at a standstill and the league has been postponed. It is hard for me to be here with days off and I cannot leave the country and cannot fly to go and be with my loved ones. I have a couple friends here in Saudi Arabia and they make me feel at home away from home. The atmosphere in Saudi Arabia is still good and they are dealing with it well and taking the precautionary measures to ensure we are safe.
Source: SportsMax
