English Premiership club Sunderland FC manager Roy Keane has warned the club’s veteran midfielder Dwight Yorke not to come out of international retirement to play in World Cup 2010 qualifiers for the Soca Warriors.
Yorke recently indicated he will be resuming international duty to help the struggling Warriors in their qualifying bid for the 2010 World Cup finals. The TT Football Federation (TTFF) officially announced the midfielder’s return on July 10, much to the delight of local football fans who have bemoaned the lack of an influential presence in the midfield since the retirement of Yorke and Russel Latapy after the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany.
News of Yorke's intention to play for the Warriors, has not been welcomed by Keane however,who is already missing the services of TT and Sunderland FC striker Kenwyne Jones, who suffered a knee ligament injury in TT’s 3-0 loss to England in an international friendly on June 1, at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
Yorke made a guest appearance in that match as a final farewell to his fans in TT. Keane stated that he is not enthusiastic of his prized possessions donning national colours and is keen to stamp out any thought of Yorke doing such.
The Sunderland manager is quoted as saying that Yorke will not represent his country contrary to earlier reports. "No, he won’t be (playing for TT) although I know he bloody played a few weeks ago. He keeps making these guest appearances," Keane said.
"Maybe if he's not playing many games for us there's a chance of him going to play for them and I wouldn’t be so critical. I think Yorkie retired after the 2006 World Cup. It was Yorkie’s decision to retire and hopefully he will stick with it. I’ll discuss it with him in the next few days," Keane said.
TTFF Special Advisor and FIFA vice-president Jack Warner yesterday said Yorke is critical to the Warriors’ chances of qualifying for the World Cup Finals to be held in South Africa and charged that if Yorke was not from an African country, he would not have to choose between club and country.
TTFF president Oliver Camps was also critical of the Sunderland FC manager's stance and was adamant that the 2006 TT Footballer of the Year will be playing for his country. Camps revealed that his organisation will be meeting this week to discuss the issue but made it clear the Tobago-born football star has a major role to play in TT’s 2010 hopes.
"We expect him to be playing. He is a very important player for us and if he wants to play for his country then he should be allowed to do so," Camps arged.
Keane's statements comes less than a month after FIFA president Sepp Blatter accused football clubs of practising "modern slavery". Yorke, a former Manchester United player has had a history of not being given permission to represent his country with the TTFF and Manchester
United manager, Alex Ferguson being at loggerheads on numerous occasions in the past. In September 2006, Keane advised Yorke to miss two friendly internationals against Nicaragua and Panama respectively so as to concentrate on his club career and settle into the team.
Yorke has been capped 59 official times for TT scoring 26 goals, but has played over 100 games which were not recognised as international friendlies. This is Yorke’s second return from retirement after he and strike partner Latapy bowed out from the international arena on June 28, 2001 after a dispute with then coach Rene Simoes.
