The reality is that their win against Honduras and their performance against Mexico, in which the Mexicans struggled to score an 84th-minute goal which brought them victory, spoke volumes about their standard of play. There is no doubt the Warriors held their own against the reigning title holders, and a team which also won the gold medal at last year’s Olympic Games and who invested in some of the players who inspired them to the Under 17 World Cup.
A win against Honduras, losses to Haiti and Mexico, and a draw against EL Salvador in the current Concacaf Gold Cup may not have met the required standards to attract fans back into the folds as supporters of national football. Yet one can’t help but feel that in reaching the quarter-final stage of the tournament, this talented group has gone a long way towards reigniting a spark that could lead to a resurgence in the interest of the national football team, and ultimately return fans in a meaningful way to the sport. The reality is that their win against Honduras and their performance against Mexico, in which the Mexicans struggled to score an 84th-minute goal which brought them victory, spoke volumes about their standard of play. There is no doubt the Warriors held their own against the reigning title holders, and a team which also won the gold medal at last year’s Olympic Games and who invested in some of the players who inspired them to the Under 17 World Cup.
The athleticism of the Warriors seemed to have upset the normally rhythmic Mexicans, who, for some strange reason, lacked creativity in midfield, and it would seem that this was a deliberate ploy from that crafty old fox Leo Beenhakker and new coach Stephen Hart, which had the Mexicans on the back foot. The T&T players, led by Kenwyne Jones, along with the overseas-based players like Carlos Edwards, Andre Boucaud, Daniel Cyrus, Keon Daniel, Darryl Roberts, Cornell Glenn and admirably backed up by the dynamic Jan Michael Williams in goal, seemed focused and committed to the effort, and it was a pity that one lapse in concentration ultimately determined the outcome. It must be noted that in getting to the USA for the tournament, T&T was forced to use homegrown talent, backed up by a few experienced overseas players, who were under the technical management of homegrown coaches, Jamal Shabazz and Hutson Charles.
Those players who performed beyond expectations in earning qualification for the team and both Charles and Shabazz should be highly commended for their role, particularly amidst the turbulence of financial uncertainties that kept clouding their aspirations. Indeed, that the team reached the Gold Cup final was in itself an accomplishment, after all the hostility between the federation and the Ministry of Sport that threatened to derail the trip. Mercifully, that did not happen. The challenge now is to ensure that the positive effect of this journey is not left behind in Atlanta. The football association, under its new management, must take a bow for ensuring that the best players took part in this tournament and T&T came away with quite a bit of goodwill. But to move forward, this team and technical staff must be given the tools to continue the work they started and youth programmes must also be beefed up so as to provide the feeder players for continuity. The association must do all in its power now not to waste this breath of fresh air that has blown football’s way.