Trinidad and Tobago will have a couple weeks to regroup before their next CONCACAF semi-final round World cup qualifier against St Kitts/Nevis at the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Tobago.
The “Soca Warriors” will continue training locally as the overseas-based pros were all scheduled to depart back to the United Kingdom on Thursday before returning for the October 10 clash in the sister-isle before jetting out to face Mexico there three days later.
Reflecting on Wednesday’s 3-1 loss to Mexico, coach Bertille St Clair made the point that while it was disappointing to lose in the manner T&T did, especially before such a large turn out, the “Soca Warriors” were still very much alive and will be hoping that the fans continue their support.
“We don’t want to take things step by step and when we get into the next round we will take it from there. Everyday day you learn something and you grow from it and now our focus is to get through this round. We missed Tony Rougier but the guys fought it out like Brent Rahim and Sancho and others all played their roles,” St Clair told TTFF Media.
“I thought the first goal was a shake up and we needed to catch ourselves. We have to understand that we have some young guys in the team and we have to continue working with them to keep on improving.
He added that he was satisfied with the current squad.
“At this point I am satisfied with the squad of players but there is always that room for anyone who can add something. I think we are fairly fit because we did run tonight and you would realize they were chasing the ball too much as well because we were not marking tight enough.”
“Now I have to shape the team and we want to get through this. Trust me, Trinidad and Tobago will get to the World Cup but we need your total support and I say again, no man is perfect and we paid for our errors against a team like Mexico tonight but we will work on them,” St Clair ended.
Despite the loss, T&T is still on top the group with six points from three matches, two of which were played away from home. Both St Vincent and the St Kitts are yet to attain a point and T&T have them both to play at home with Mexico to be T&T’s only away match in this stage. The top two teams will advance to the final round of six teams which kicks off in February from which three teams will advance to the 2006 World Cup in Germany and the fourth placed team will face the fifth best from Asia in a playoff for another World Cup spot.