The Trinidad and Tobago national under-20 team will not take their feet off the pedal. Not under the watch of head coach Zoran Vranes.
"We are going to play to beat them anyway," said Vranes, at Monday's post-game press conference after their goalless draw with Costa Rica. "I think we are already in (to the '09 World Cup). But for the future of football in Trinidad and Tobago, we need to perform well and beat them."
There was an interesting exchange when Vranes' assertion that his team had already advanced to the World Youth Championships was disputed, in a forthright manner, by a reporter.
They say familiarity breeds contempt and maybe Vranes has been in the Caribbean for too long-when he arrived in 1995, Yugoslavia, his homeland, was still a country-with too little to show for it.
Thirteen years ago, FIFA vice-president and Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (T&TFF) special advisor Jack Warner scribbled a tactical sermon on a sheet of paper and sent it for Vranes at halftime during a senior World Cup qualifier. Trinidad and Tobago lost that qualifier 1-0 at home to Costa Rica, Warner's sermon was leaked to the press (possibly by Warner himself) and Vranes was axed.
He stayed in the Caribbean and had spells with Antigua and St Vincent, as well as Warner's Joe Public club and a couple assistant roles with local national teams. Vranes is a pleasant, approachable gentleman but his nomadic existence did not necessarily encourage the respect of his peers.
And so, despite being unbeaten in two games against Canada and Costa Rica, he endured a lecture from reporters on the fact that his team needed to score more goals. As though such a shortcoming could be corrected in a half-hour session or as if the other teams in the group did not have the same problem-Costa Rica managed one goal in 180 minutes, while Mexico are yet to score.
"We have not too much choices (up front)," said Vranes, when grilled on his team's offensive shortcomings. "We are badly missing (Jamal) Gay. But what is important is that we are creating chances and we are getting closer to scoring."
Vranes has defensive worries today too as the suspension of Curtis Gonzales and Robert Primus means that Nicholas Walker, another doubt though injury, will be recalled, while Daneil Cyrus will probably move from midfield to defence.
Vranes courted controversy when he requested his squad play together in the Super League last season and he is ready to irk the local top-flight clubs again by insisting that his youth team be allowed to compete in the 2009 T&T Pro League. If the national under-20 boys continue at this rate, though, we may have no choice but to take him seriously.