JLLOYD SAMUEL GROUNDED

BUNGLING Trinidad chief Jack Warner slammed England's World Cup bid just hours after leaving one of his star players grounded for a vital qualifier.

Bolton defender Jlloyd Samuel was turned away by check-in staff TWICE at Manchester airport last week after being told he was booked on flights to Trinidad.

Samuel was selected in the squad for Trinidad & Tobago's World Cup qualifier with Costa Rica yesterday.

Officials from Trinidad & Tobago told the left-back he was booked on a flight last Sunday but he was turned away.

After being told to return to the airport for a flight the next day, Samuel was snubbed a second time.

And staff at Manchester airport told Samuel, who made his international debut in a 4-1 loss to Honduras last month, he had NEVER been booked on the flights.

Incredibly, he was then sent a text by one of Trinidad and Tobago's travel staff telling him to report to the airport for a third time on Tuesday. Instead, Samuel, 28, pulled out of the squad after getting a niggling groin injury training with Bolton on Monday.

On Wednesday, FIFA vice-president Warner slaughtered England's World Cup 2018 bid by claiming the country was lagging behind.

Warner said: "The best bid will have my vote. Nothing gives you the right. You're earning it but not fast enough, creeping along when you have to be running.

"I don't want to feel there is any obligation on my part to vote for England - the field is wide open. If England is pacing herself, fine, but you have to change the perception you're plodding along.

"Spain is doing quite well and some people have even expressed the belief to me that if the vote were taken now, they would win."

Warner obviously has a short memory after the Three Lions travelled to Trinidad & Tobago last summer to play a vote-winning friendly.

This article has 0 comments