From club to country is the adage.
Pacific FC players Reon Moore and Steffen Yeates, along with Cavalry FC’s Malcolm Shaw, will be living it. They go from Canadian Premier League opponents today at Starlight Stadium to teammates on Trinidad and Tobago’s 39-player provisional roster for 2026 World Cup qualifying games against Grenada on Wednesday and Bahamas next Saturday.
“We are going to miss Reon and Steffen for sure but that is what we want,” said PFC head coach James Merriman.
That’s because national team call-ups reflect well on any club.
Moore has scored eight goals in 26 games for Trinidad and Tobago while Cavalry’s Shaw, also a striker, has a goal in five appearances with the Soca Warriors. It is uncapped Pacific FC midfielder Yeates’ call-up that is turning the most heads.
“We know Reon is a big part of the Trinidad and Tobago national team. Now Steffen has earned his chance,” said Merriman.
“It’s a credit to him. He deserves it. This call-up is because of his performances.”
Those have included Yeates being named the outstanding player of the match in the 2-1 PFC victory over Atletico Ottawa in the Canadian Championship quarter-final Wednesday night at Starlight Stadium that propelled the Tridents into a semifinal match-up against the Vancouver Whitecaps of Major League Soccer.
“[Yeates] has big potential and a bright future,” said Merriman.
Shaw and his Cavalry mates come into Starlight Stadium today after beating the Whitecaps 1-0 at sa国际传媒 Place. But the impressive victory against the MLS side wasn’t enough to get Cavalry into the Canadian Championship semifinals for the Voyageurs Cup because the Whitecaps had beaten Cavalry 2-1 in the first game of their quarter-final set in Calgary, so the Whitecaps advanced on the away-goals tiebreaker, to play PFC in the semis this summer.
It is, however, an indication that Cavalry has ample talent. The Alberta side is 1-1-5 in league and 3-2-5 overall in wins-losses-draws. The high number of draws, although no doubt disappointing to the defending CPL regular-season champions, shows they can stick with anybody.
“Cavalry are likely frustrated with the draws because everybody knows the quality they have,” said Merriman.
“We know Cavalry is going to be up for the fight [today].”
The Calgary club will be facing an injury-plagued PFC team (3-2-2 in league and 5-2-3 overall) playing its third game in eight days, and second game in four days, and looking to halt a two-game league losing skid.
“This is where we test our squad,” said Merriman.
Meanwhile, cobwebs might start appearing on Starlight Stadium this month. A home-dominated stretch to start the season concludes today when the Tridents entertain Cavalry. It will be followed by three PFC road games. The Tridents won’t be back at Starlight until June 27 for the derby against Vancouver FC.
