Warriors face fascinating WCQ test.
By: Lasana Liburd (Express).
Maturana's corbeaux challenge.
Trinidad and Tobago's national football team coach Francisco Maturana is likely to revert to his favoured 4-5-1 system on Saturday as the "Soca Warriors" host Honduras in a crucial World Cup qualifier at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain.
On the fans' forum, the system is referred to as "the corbeaux brand". It is a crude comparison but not inaccurate.
Sunderland striker Kenwyne Jones is likely to be left alone up front, while wingers Carlos Edwards and Keon Daniel would be asked to join him as often as possible from a deeper and more defensive starting position. Playmaker Russell Latapy should feature too, although he is unlikely to play as high as he did against the United States. Without the suspended team captain, Dwight Yorke, the Warriors would need Latapy to get on the ball as much as possible.
Anyone who witnessed Trinidad and Tobago's uninspiring 1-0 win over Panama last week would accept that the former Colombia World Cup coach has reason to be concerned about the heart of his midfield.
Honduras are well equipped in that area. Midfield enforcer Wilson Palacios, a £14 million capture for Tottenham Spurs, does a good Michael Essien impression, while his partner and team captain Amado Guevara also matches skilful touches with notable physical strength.
There might not be a better central midfield pair in CONCACAF and Maturana may have been wary about going man to man against those two, even before last week's underwhelming performance from his engine room. The Colombian responded by recalling the teenaged man-child, Khaleem Hyland, and his strength and endurance might make him less of a gamble than the Pro League candidates who, unfortunately, are in their off-season.
Clyde Leon will have a crucial role too. Apart from quickly relaying the ball to his more advanced teammates-he is sometimes guilty of loitering in possession-Leon must be mindful of Honduran striker David Suazo's movement. Suazo tied the Trinidad and Tobago defence in knots on his last trip to Port of Spain, eight years ago, as Honduras ran out 4-2 winners and, hopefully, Dennis Lawrence has a dish of revenge waiting.
Honduras, like Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, possess players who are not just good technically but also athletic and strong and Maturana will need to get his thinking cap out.
His decision to omit striker Cornell Glen seems cavalier, particularly if the Warriors end up chasing the game as Stern John and Jason Scotland, although both capable of excelling in such contests, are very similar and certainly not as explosive as Glen.
Scotland deserves some sympathy. He is the country's in-form player and has been for some time-a fact rewarded by the T&TFF with the 2008 Player of the Year award. (For the record, it is debatable whether John's 20 goals that saved Southampton's Championship Division status come off badly in comparison to Scotland's 29 League One goals that won Swansea promotion.)
Scotland debuted for Trinidad and Tobago in 2000 and, in near nine years, managed to play three international games on the trot on only three occasions. Each time, he got goals.
There was one item in a 3-2 Gold Cup qualifying loss against Martinique in 2002 sandwiched by blanks in defeats to Cuba and Honduras. Two years later, he scored the opener in a 4-0 World Cup rout of the Dominican Republic, did not trouble the scorers away to Thailand and then snatched a notable equaliser in a 1-1 draw in the Republic of Korea.
And, last October, Scotland's first half hat-trick in a 9-0 demolition of the Netherland Antilles earned him starts in subsequent World Cup fixtures away to Guatemala and at home to the United States-a draw and win respectively-before Jones's return from injury forced him to give way again.
Jones is likely to play the "corbeaux role" on the weekend, although Scotland could make a crucial cameo off the bench.
Trinidad and Tobago's strength clearly lies in attack, while Honduras appear to have a weakness at the back, as they have conceded against every opponent faced in their 2010 campaign so far including Puerto Rico.
Yet, Maturana's 19-man squad suggests he is more focused on nullifying the Honduran threat-at least in the formative stages of the match-as opposed to taking advantage of their possible frailty.
The so-called "corbeaux brand" is not the Colombian's creation. Beenhakker adopted it at the business end of our successful 2006 campaign while English coach Terry Fenwick led Clico San Juan Jabloteh to two successive domestic league titles with a similar system.
Not that Maturana will be able to hide behind this. It is the Colombian's time to shine. Anything less than three points could force the Warriors to lower their sights to fourth place where they would face a South American opponent who should be considerably tougher than Bahrain.
John is the best poacher in Trinidad and Tobago's history and probably never received due credit for helping the Warriors to Germany. On Saturday, Jones may be asked to give his impression of the predatory buzzard.
For the sake of Trinidad and Tobago's World Cup aspirations, the corbeaux better be hungry.
