Star player Russell Latapy has been appointed Trinidad and Tobago's football head coach following the resignation of Colombian Francisco Maturana yesterday.

Maturana quit on the back of T&T's poor results so far in World Cup qualifying.

The Soca Warriors have secured a mere two points from three CONCACAF qualifiers in a dismal bid so far to qualify for the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa.

Differences in opinions

"The technical coaching staff led by Mr Francisco Maturana have offered their resignations to the executive committee of the TTFF due to differences in opinions regarding the way forward in the FIFA 2010 World Cup qualification campaign for South Africa. The resignations were subsequently accepted by the executive committee of the TTFF," the TTFF said.

The Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) also moved swiftly to put Latapy in charge with Zoran Vranes as his assistant.

The 60-year-old Maturana, 14 months into the job, offered his resignation at a meeting yesterday morning when the performance and future of Trinidad and Tobago team were discussed.

The TTFF thanked him for his services.

Delighted

Latapy had been player/coach of the squad - under Maturana's watch - as T&T drew with El Salvador (2-2) and Honduras (1-1) and lost 3-0 to the USA in World Cup qualifiers in the past two months.

The 40-year-old Latapy, who played for more than 10 years in Europe, responded enthusiastically to his appointment.

"I'm absolutely delighted with being given opportunity to be coach of my country's national team," Latapy said.

Trinidad and Tobago's next 2010 World Cup qualifying match is at home to Costa Rica on June 6 followed by an away clash with Mexico on June 10.